The Heir
by rugbygal
Summary: When Samantha Riddle transfers to Hogwarts, she only expects to learn about magic. But when she finds out about her unknown father's past she's shocked and when her mother mysteriously disapears nothing is the same again.
1. A Dreadful Mistake

A Dreadful Mistake

"Leave Tom, just leave and don't come back!" a woman yelled at her husband, as she clutched her baby daughter, holding her to her chest so she wouldn't drop her. The kitchen lights were dim, for they were going to go out soon. The cold England night was very clear and was full of stars, and the moon was clearer than ever.

Tom sighed, all of a sudden, two men burst through the door.

"Lord Voldemort, are you ready to travel to the Potter's?" one asked, his long white hair shinned in the moonlight.

"Malfoy, Snape, wait outside, don't go until I give the signal!" Tom/Voldemort ordered, they nodded and left.

"See what I mean?" Carrie demanded, once the men left. "You're killing innocent people, just to gain power! We are so getting a divorce!" she screamed

Then something snapped inside of Tom, he looked fiercely at his wife in an evil rage. "GOOD! Cause my life was easier without an annoying bitch to drag along with me!" he shouted at her. Her mouth dropped but she snapped it together quickly.

"I'm keeping Samantha," she told him grimly.

"I don't care…" he told her slowly, "I hate you… and I hate Samantha, I wish you were both dead," after that, there was an awkward silence.

"I thought you loved me," she whispered silently.

"I never loved you," he told her sternly. Carrie looked at him with horrified expression then left the room with daughter. She sat down on rocking chair holding her baby softly.

"Are you ready to leave to Potter's, my lord?" she heard a voice ask when Tom opened the door.

"Yes, Lucius, make sure the others are ready and then we'll leave," the door closed behind him as he stepped outside.

She then went back into the baby's room and put in her pink crib. The woman looked around the room and sighed. Her small house was nice cozy and remote in the outskirts of a medium-sized English town but she knew that her was dying to her to the country she grew up in… America. And with the circumstances of her ex-husband, she thought that would be best for her and the baby.

Carrie moved to England with her family after she received her letter to go to the finest magic school in all of England, Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. That's where Carrie, meet her ex-husband, Tom Riddle, at that exact school. Carrie was placed in Ravenclaw, one of the four houses there, even though Tom was in Slytherin, they both fell in love. But now, all she wanted was for her husband to get a life and stop being this evil man and be the sweet, kind, man she thought she knew when they were teenagers.

The now ex-wife of Tom Riddle, walked into her bedroom and threw herself into her bed. She listened to the crickets that chirped through the open window by her dresser. Carrie closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

When she awoke in the morning, the first thing she heard was the sound of Samantha crying from her bedroom down the hall. The mother ran in the pink and purple room to find, her one-year-old fast asleep again. Carrie rolled her eyes.

_Only a baby like Samantha would do something like that_, she thought. Once she left she heard crying again, she sighed and went back in to get her baby.

"Hello Sami!" she welcomed the baby softly once she was back in the room. The crying stopped and Carrie came face-to-face with her daughter. The mom picked her up, and carried her into the kitchen where she found a chestnut owl perched on the kitchen window, that had a newspaper in it's beak.

"What happened today in the world?" Carrie asked herself, she untied the newspaper that read, _The Daily Prophet, _on the top of the front page.

"Her you go, little guy." As she put 3 bronze Knuts in the small purple bag tied to its leg. It flew away and Carrie got Sami some baby food for her breakfast then sat down at the table and started reading.

_Couple killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_

_Last night around midnight, Lily and James Potter were killed_

_by, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Their one-year-old boy, Harry Potter was about to be killed by the Killing Curse (one of the unforgivable curses). But, it didn't work, it seemed to have backfired, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fled. The Potter house was destroyed when aurours showed up at the scene. Now the boy has inherited their fortune and will now be living with his muggle aunt and uncle._

Carrie leaned back in her chair in shock; The Potter's were the nicest people she ever meet! Why them? She asked herself as she poured herself a bowl of _Coco Puffs. _What also amazed her that such a young child could not be affected by such a powerful curse, not even Albus Dumbledore could do that! Then four different owls with letters swooped in from the open window, onto the kitchen table in front of her.

She took a letter from one owl that was a dark brown color; this one was the biggest one of all of them. She opened the letter and read:

_Dear Carrie Riddle,_

_I assume that you heard the news about the Potter's? Well I hope you are well and you are probably busy partying about the fall of Lord Voldemort. I'm saying this because I need to talk to you this morning around 9:30am, because I have an important question to ask you. I couldn't ask you in writing in case this letter was intercepted; it is concerning your daughter Samantha. Well, I hope you two are well and please be ready for me around 9:30._

_Albus Dumbledore_

She looked at the grandfather clock that stood tall in the corner by the hallway. It read 9:15, Carrie looked down to see she was still wearing the same outfit from yesterday. She ran into her bedroom and changed into some clean clothes and walked back into the kitchen. The mother looked over at her daughter that had applesauce all over her small face. Carrie sighed, and grabbed her daughter and grabbed a washcloth. She then wet it and cleaned up Samantha's face. A loud crack was heard from outside, after ten minutes of looking through her mail that was filled with party invitations.

There was a knock at the door and Carrie casually walked over to get it.

"Hello, Caroline, good day today isn't it?" Dumbledore asked after she opened it. She told him to come in and sit down; so he did.

"What's this all about? Do you think Tom's really gone, or is he still out there?" she asked excitedly. Carrie pulled out her wand for the first time that day, and pointed it to the cupboard then the stove. All of a sudden two teacups, a teapot, a pot, and tea mix soared out of the cupboard. The pot flew onto the hot stove, and the tea mix poured itself into the pot. The teacups and teapot flew onto the table.

"Sadly to say, I think he's still out there, trying to stay alive." He paused, sighing. "Anyway, my visit is concerning Samantha as you read in my letter, it's about what you're going to do about her school choice. I wanted to know if you were truly going to go back to America." The tea was done it poured itself into the teapot, which poured it into the two teacups for them.

"Yes, I am moving back to America; but I want to ask you something. Can you please not tell anyone that I was married to Lord Voldemort, and please don't tell that he lived here and that his real name is Tom Riddle?" she took a sip of her tea and so did the Professor.

"You can count on me to keep your secret. But where are deciding to send Samantha for school?" He asked seriously, looking into her dark green eyes. Carrie starred down at her tea; she didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"New Bruntsworth Academy," she looked up at him, he didn't seem very sad but he did look surprised, "I'm sorry I just really miss America!" she explained with a full heart.

"It's alright but I half thought you would chose Hogwarts since that's where you went." He sighed, and got up; she copied. "Well your daughter is still on the list if you change your mind. If you do, please contact me so I can get it straitened out with my staff." Carrie nodded as Dumbledore headed for the door.

She sighed and opened it for him.

"Hope you have a good day, Professor!" she smiled.

"Same hope to you, Caroline." He walked outside, then there was a loud crack and then he vanished.

She sighed then remembered that she had a daughter. Carrie ran over to her and picked her up and brought her back into her crib. She leaned on the wooden rim of it and sighed again.

"You are going to have a very complicated life, now aren't you?" the child looked up at her and smiled then whispered to herself. "That's such a shame." And Carrie knew that someday she would have to tell her that her father was an evil criminal that wanted everyone to follow him. That is what she least wanted to do.

But then the thought crossed her mind

_Maybe I won't even have to tell her at all!_

_

* * *

_

**A/N: Hello. I decided that I want to continue with my Harry Potter fan fiction as you can see. I decided this b/c I started re-reading the series and then I was like "wow! I love these series!" And so many ideas just came to me that it would be shame to ignore the creative juices so here I am. Updating. And hopefully I'll keep up with it since it's Winter Vacation.**

**Hope you had a merry Christmas,**

**HANNAH**


	2. Back to England

Back To England

"Mom! Can you help me with my trunk?" fifteen-year-old Samantha Riddle yelled from her room. It was the day they were going to move back to England. She could barely remember England since she was only one year old when she was there last.

Her mother entered the room, exhausted. "Do you have to have to pack so much things, Sami? Didn't I tell to get rid of things you didn't want in the garage sale yesterday?" she asked, referring to the huge garage sale the held yesterday that her mother had in hopes of making moving to another country easier.

"Mom, you know I can't possibly live without my clothes! I also can't believe that Hogwarts makes up cover up our clothes with stupid robes. And they don't even look fashionable!!" She complained, dragging her carry-on item (a knock-off Louis Vuttion bag filled with books and notebook paper) down the main hall way and out the door.

"You are allowed to wear whatever you like on weekends and breaks you know!"

"REALLY?!" she exclaimed excitedly, throwing her bag into her mom's 1970 Mustang Convertible. "Thanks mom, that just brightened my day!" she ran enthusiastically back into their small house to continue packing.

She really wasn't that excited to move to another country, it was really just an act. If Sam decided to act how she felt her mom would roll her eyes and tell her that she's being immature. What she wanted to do was pout, kick things, and scream 'I DON'T WANNA GO!' But she knew that she had to, so she put on a good face and acted like moving to England was for the better.

All she had left to do was take pictures of her room. She set her camera on a tripod and then walked over to her bed and sat on it so she could be in the picture. Sam smiled and waved at the camera as if flashed. A small picture rolled out of the front of the camera and she walked over and picked in up.

There she was. Sitting on her wood bed with her straight, blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail with a forced smile on her face. She was wearing jeans and a plain magenta t-shirt and black sneakers. The girl in the photo was waving to her and then started to look around the room thoughtfully.

"Sam!" her mom yelled from the driveway. "It's time to go!"

"'Kay!" she yelled back and then quickly took some more pictures of the house and then stood in the kitchen one last time and sighed.

_Goodbye,_ she thought sadly before leaving the house for good.

It was a long and boring flight to England. Of course, there was a flight attendant who seemed to be only nineteen or eighteen who took an interest to her. However, the attendant was a boy and could only stop and chat for a few moments at a time before Samantha's mom would look over from her seat across the aisle and give Sam a warning look. Other than that she read and wrote about her trip in her journal.

_August 9 – 12:05 PM (US time)_

_Hello. I'm up in the air at the moment and heading for Britain. Mom's here with me, of course, but we aren't sitting together and feels as if I'm all alone. Although, the flight attendant has been keeping me company so it's not that bad._

_I'm so nervous for my new school I could about scream! At least it's not the middle of the term or anything that would be worse! And Mom told me all about it. There are four houses, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Apparently all of the evil people go to Slytherin, the brave to Gryffindor, the idiots to Hufflepuff, and the intelligent to Ravenclaw. Mom was in Ravenclaw so I suspect that I'll be in it just the same. I already know that Dad went to Hogwarts too, that's where they met, but when I asked her which house he was in she got all upset and told me to stop asking so many questions at once…._

_I bet he was in Slytherin._

_Oh! The flight attendant and I just made eye contact and he's approaching! :) _

_See yeah,_

_Samantha Riddle_

Finally, her mom woke her up to tell her that the plane had landed. She nodded sleepily and saw that it was dark outside and stood up.

They got their luggage and then called for a cab and Samantha slept as they drove into London.

Her mom woke her up once again when they arrived at their new townhouse. When Samantha got out of the large taxi she could see how antique looking the townhouse was. It was larger than their old home and was very beautiful, but at that moment Sam wanted nothing more than to collapse onto her old bed in her small, one-story home in America.

The next morning she woke up around six o'clock and found herself in her new bedroom. Her trunk sat in the middle of the room along with her other bags that looked as if they were thrown into the room. She got up and guessed her way into the kitchen where Carrie Riddle was cooking breakfast.

"Hello," she mumbled sleepily to her mother and then collapsed into one of the dinning table chairs.

Carrie turned around to see her half awake daughter and laughed at the sight.

"Sleepy?" she asked with a chuckle and then turned around again to tend to the eggs.

Sam only grumbled something unintelligible and then forced herself to stand up and prepare herself a glass of milk from the fridge.

"Today we have to unpack," her mom announced.

"Hm," was all Sam said in return.

"Then, on Monday, we can go get your books from Diagon Alley."

_Sounds fun,_the teenager thought inwardly and then slumped in the chair. She had only been to Diagon Alley once and it was not a fun experience. For starters they were shopping for the most boring items such as a very rare sort of weed that her mother needed for a potion and a Greevious Weed-killing rock for her mother's garden.

It also didn't help that it was very cold outside even though it was summer at the time and they were there to visit some of Carrie's old friends who had no children, so when they visited Samantha had sit quietly in a chair while the adults chatted and laughed at jokes that a seven-year-old would not understand.

"Sam, stop being so enthusiastic," Carrie told her daughter sarcastically with an eye roll.

_This is why people think that you're my older sister,_ Sam thought angrily and then turned away so she couldn't see the annoyance on her face.

It was true. Many people mistook Carrie as Sam's older sister who went to a university. One reason, was because of how young her mother looked. Caroline still had a fit figure even though she was thirty-six and she had no wrinkles since she chose not to smoke. Also, her mother was mature but sarcasm was practically a second language to her so people always asked what college she was attending and if she was visiting for the weekend and so on.

"So…" Sam said after a painful silence, "have you checked out the backyard?" Her mother always liked gardening and she was sure that seeing if the backyard was able to hold one of Carrie's infamous gardens was on the top of her mother's list.

"Yes," she said enthusiastically, "it will be perfect for the vegetable garden I'm thinking of planting. I hate having to go to the muggle store and it'll save us money!"

After breakfast Samantha sneaked away to her room so she could write once again in her journal.

_August 10 - 7:56 AM_

_Mom's beyond excited about our move, she's acting like this is the best decision that she's ever made. I know that she misses the States, though. She had friends back home that I know she's sad to leave. I mean, no one can be _that_ happy about moving!_

_I should be unpacking, but how can I unpack when this place doesn't even feel like home. My real home is in America in the suburbs of New York. Who does Mom think she's kidding?_

_Whatever,_

_Samantha Riddle_


	3. Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley was full of Hogwarts students who ran excitedly from shop to shop while tugging along their worried looking parents.

It looked a lot more exciting like this, Sam thought as her mom checked the price on Gremling Weeds that gave off an odor that kept small animals away.

They had already went to Gringotts where Sam was surprised to find that they had a vault there. Her mom, however, wouldn't let her see what was all inside of it making Samantha rather suspicious.

Finally, Carrie bought the weeds even though she muttered about how over priced they were. Then, they set off down the street and Carrie asked her daughter what they needed on her school list.

"Books… things for Potions, gloves, cauldrons - since you sold my old one, and new robes."

"What's wrong with your old ones?"

"I've grown over the summer," she said plainly and her mother sighed.

"Okay, give me your book list. I'll get your books and you can get measured for robes and I'll meet you in there." Sam nodded and then turned and walked into Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions.

Inside, there ere many Hogwarts students in line to be measured. Most of them looked to be first year students but there was still a few older students who looked to be about her age.

She got in line and then finally was shown to the back where a tall, red-haired boy was already being measured.

"Hello," he greeted her politely making her blush.

"Hello," she mumbled, self-conscious about her American accent.

"Hogwarts?" he asked and she nodded. "What year?"

"Fifth." "Really? Funny, I don't' think I've seen you before, what house are you in?" Now she turned a mad shade of scarlet and hoped that she didn't stick out very much at Hogwarts.

"Um… I'm new this year. My old school… it closed." He nodded and seemed to be greatly interested although she thought of herself as immensely boring.

"Really? How odd! I've never heard of that happening before," he exclaimed making her blush more. Noticing this, he quickly changed the subject.

"So how long are you staying in London for?" he asked casually even though his robes were done.

"Oh, actually I live here in London."

"Really, around all those Muggles?"

"Yeah, a bit odd, I know."

"A bit. So are you here with your parents?"

"My mom… I don't have a dad." Now the boy turned as red as his hair.

"Oh-ah… I'm-I'm sorry-"

"No, no, no it's okay. I never met him. He and my mom got a divorce when I was only a baby." He nodded and the fair color of his skin returned to his face.

"Oh." It was a bit awkward after that. They stood there both staring at their feet until the boy asked another question.

"Where did you say you were from?"

"Umm… the States," Sam mumbled and then cringed as the boy looked shocked.

"Really Isn't it filled with Muggles there? You know I was wondering what your accent was!"

"Well yeah, there's a lot of Muggles there, but there are still a good amount of wizards and witches. There's only one school of magic, you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Well, now there's none because it closed. That's why I'm going to Hogwarts," Sam explained.

"What happened?"

"The headmaster turned out to be a Death Eater." Now the boy's eyes became huge.

"Wow! Actually, I think I recall my father mentioning something about that. Well did your mum go to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, she was in Ravenclaw."

"Well, hopefully you'll be in Gryffindor, like me," he told her, turning a bit pink.

"You're all done," madam Malkin said, coming into their back room and smiling at Sam. "You may go now since your mum already paid. Weasley, I don't know what you're still doing here but your mum is wondering about you!"

Sam and the boy called 'Weasley' looked at each other and smirked.

When the plump witch left, Weasley turned to Sam and stuck out his hand.

"Well I best going. I'm George by the way. George Weasley," he told her with a smile as they shook hands.

"I'm Samantha Riddle, but you can just call me Sam."

He nodded and then they filed out of the the back room and returned to their families.

"What took you so long, George?" his twin brother asked. "Mum almost sent out a search party for you!" George grinned and looked over at his plump mother who was frowning at his brother.

"That's enough, Fred," she ordered and then fussed over their younger sister who was trying to carry all of her supplies at once.

Only twenty feet away from them was Carrie and Sam who were deciding what to do next.

"Honestly, Sam, it was so crowded in there! I'm just glad to be out with my head on straight. Alright then, what next, or how about some lunch?"

"Ah…" Sam said, only half paying attention since her and George locked eyes and he smiled and waved at her. She blushed and waved and smiled back making him turn red also.

"How about lunch?" she suggested, turning to her mother before she could notice what she was doing.

George watched Sam walk away with her mom and then jumped when Fred starting talking to him.

"Who's that?" he asked and George turned to him, frowning a bit. Fred was wearing his infamous mischievous grin that made George skeptical.

"No one," he said rather quickly and then looked down at his book list.

"Yeah right," his twin snorted, "I saw you waving and making eyes at her! So who is she?"

"Well don't go shouting it to the world!" George hissed and then looked over quickly at Ginny who was eyeing them suspiciously.

Fred kept staring at him, waiting for an answer so George finally sighed and told him about their conversation in the robe shop.

"She's cute," Fred commented as he watched her talk animatedly with her mother while sitting at a table outside of a café. George glared at him making him roll his eyes. "Oh stop it, lover boy, I'm not going to jump after her." His brother nodded and then decided to drop the subject by poking fun at Ron who dropped all of his thing son the ground just as two, good-looking, sixth year girls walked past him.

At seven o' clock at night, Sam and her mother finally returned home, both exhausted from the day's events. After putting her things away, Sam opened her diary to write another entry.

* * *

_August 15, 7: 49PM_

_Wow! Diagon Alley is much more exciting when other students are there! Mom and I got my school things today. There are so many books to get at this school compared to St. Brunstworth. We never had books for Potions so that's probably why…._

_Oh yes! I met a Hogwarts student today when I was being measured for a robe. His name is George Weasley and seems to have quite a large family from what I could tell. He's very nice and says that he's in Gryffindor._

_All I'm going to say is that I hope I'm in Gryffindor…. :)_

_Cheers!_

_Samantha Riddle_

_

* * *

_**A/N: Hello! I was away at my grandpa's house for a couple days but I successfully got two chapters written so all I have to do now is type them on Word and then upload them! Yay! This one is a little boring.... When I wrote this the first time I didn't include this scene but I decided that it would be cool for Samantha to meet someone....**

**Anyways, I spent about ten minutes while writing this just writing signatures for Sam. It was fun, I'm not gonna lie. I tried to incorporate a question mark in her last name, 'Riddle'. It turned out awesome. **

**Merry New Year,**

**HANNAH**

**P.S.** **It's 11:51 PM here in Minnesota which means I should probably hit the hay BUT I just have so much writing today that I'm putting off sleep. ;) Oh yes! I also watched Dirty Dancing for the first time a couple days ago and I LOVE IT! It's amazing! Also I saw Chicago which is equally amazing. I always have those songs in my head now. Oh, and just last night I had the strangest dream last night where Ashlee Simpson and Avril Lavigne were my older sisters and a senior in my school was my boyfriend. This was very weird b/c I have never thought about that boy in that way and I've never talked to him in my life.... Actually, I think he asked me if I was a freshman over the summer during weight lifting, but that's beside the point....**

**I'm rambling, so that's where I stop and say good night... or good morning... or good afternoon. Whatever is going on when you're reading this.**

**HANNAH... again**


	4. Snakes and Other Terrible Things

Finally, it was September 1 and Samantha was packing her trunk full of clothes was yelling to her mother from her bedroom.

"I don't know where it is, Sam!" Carrie yelled back while fixing her daughter breakfast. "Check my purse, maybe it's there!"

Samantha groaned and fiddled with her ponytail once again. It was her nervous habit and she had more to worry about at the moment than ever before. It didn't help one bit that she couldn't find her Hogwarts letter.

She stood up and walked through the hallway where she made her way down the stairs and to the entry way the house.

"Stop worrying, Sami," her mother told her, as if she could read her mind.

"I'm not," Sam lied as she rummaged through her mother's purse. When she couldn't find it she opened the closet door and was surprised to find a large cage that held a large, purple, cat.

Sam was at a loss of words. She stood there and stared and the sat and stared back.

"M-m-mom!" she yelled. "Why is there a cat in the closet?"

Carrie came into view and she quickly walked down the stairs and sighed when she saw a wide-eyed Sam staring at a bored cat.

"Oh, shoot," she muttered. "That's your going away present."

"Really?" her daughter said, becoming pleased about there being a cat in the closet now.

"Yeah. I know how much you loved Biscuits so I decided that you'd like a cat." Biscuits was their old cat died right before her mother announced that they were going to move to Britain.

"Oh… well thank you, mom. I love it!" she exclaimed and then reached in the closet and took the cat out of its cage and held it close.

After 'ooo-ing' and 'aaah-ing' about it for five minutes Sam said that she needed to keep looking for her letter, especially since it had the Hogsmeade permission form in it and her mom hadn't signed it yet.

She set the cat down and then made sure it didn't follow her as she walked out the door. With some luck, the letter would be on the ground in case she dropped it while going somewhere.

It wasn't on the walkway up to the townhouse but Sam continued on to look around the grounds of the house that was surrounded by fence. Carrie refused to buy a house that didn't have a fence around it, for obvious reasons of course.

She walked along the side of the house where the bushes were growing in nicely thanks to a charm that Carrie put on them to make them grow faster. In the backyard were her mother's gardens and a garden shed that sat in the corner and usually was locked tightly in case any stranger strolled into the back. The last thing they wanted was for them to find any magical gardening items and cause a huge mess for the Ministry.

Although, she noticed something peculiar about the garden shed that morning. Instead of bearing its usual lock, one of the doors was slightly open and there was no lock to be seen. She walked over to the shed hoping that it was just an animal. When she peeked in the shed she gasped and tumbled backwards from fright.

Samantha did get what she was hoping for. There was an animal in the shed, but it wasn't a squirrel or another small animal that she was expecting. No, instead there was a large snake staring back at her with venomous eyes.

Her breath caught and she found it hard to breathe. The snake approached her and hissed at her dangerously. She could feel her body shake uncontrollably as she scrambled away from the shed and panting horribly.

"Get away," she told it harshly even though she knew it wouldn't respond….

Or so she thought.

The snake closed its eyes and his head shook a bit. As if, she thought, as if… it were _laughing_.

_Snakes don't laugh_, she told herself harshly and tried to shake the thought out of her mind.

"_I'm not going to hurt you,"_ it told her and seemed to find this thought amusing. She blinked and it blinked back.

"It can't be," she told herself making the snake chuckle some more.

"_Now,"_ it said and started to slither away, _"I mussst return to my masssster." _

"Never come here again," Sam ordered sternly and then quickly got to her feet.

"_Don't worry, Ssssam," _it said and seemed to be grinning at her horrified expression, _"I'll never be in that garden ssshed again."_

"That's not what I-" Sam started to say but when she blinked the large snake was gone and she was left alone.

_I just had a conversation with a snake…_ she realized and then tried to convince herself that it was all in her head. Deep down, however, she highly doubted it.

Sam walked into the garden shed to see what the snake could have been in there for and saw here Hogwarts letter on the ground.

"What the hell?" she whispered. It was her first time stepping into that shed and she could feel that something was going on that she was unknowingly apart of.

As she walked back into the house she was zombie-like, barely paying attention to where she was going and to what she was doing. It wasn't until she ran until the handrail of the stairs did she start focusing what was going on around her.

"Sam!" her mother shrieked when she saw her daughter lying on the ground, dazed and confused. "What's wrong with you?"

Her daughter continued to stare at the ceiling trying to find words for what happened.

"S-s-sn-snake," she managed to stammer and the let her mother pull her to her feet.

"What? Sam, what's wrong?" Carrie asked and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, becoming frantic.

Somehow, Samantha regained control and was able to stutter out what happened at the garden shed.

Now it was Carrie's turn to be shocked beyond words. She stared wide-eyed at Samantha and prayed that it was only in her daughter's head.

"Are you sure-"

"Yes!" Sam shouted, taking her mother by surprise. "I'm not crazy, Mom, I know what I saw!"

Carrie sighed and tried to figure out what to do.

_He's coming for her,_ she decided inwardly and then turned from her daughter and started to walk up the stairs.

"Don't… don't' you believe me, Mom?" Samantha whimpered as she watched her mother walk away from her.

"Umm…" Carrie bit her lip and kept walking. "Snakes don't talk, Sam," was all she said before announcing that she had to phone a friend who left a message for her while she was at Diagon Alley the other day.

Samantha sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with her mother so she dropped the subject and walked back into her room to continue to pack.

Before they left, Sam took out her journal once again since she had a feeling that she wouldn't have time to write at night.

* * *

_September 1, 7:30 AM_

_Mom's keeping something from me. Today, when I was looking for my Hogwarts letter in the backyard (don't ask why) and I found a HUMONGOUS snake! Then it _talked _to me. No I'm wasn't drunk, it seriously _talked_ to me! _And_ it knew my name! It called me Sam! The name I prefer people to call me by! How would a _SNAKE _know that?! I'm freaking out and isn't it just great that this all happened right before I leave for Hogwarts? As if I don't have enough on my plate. _

_When I told Mom about what happened she looked completely freaked out and then told me that "Snakes don't talk, Sam." What the heck? Obviously they don't, that's why I'm so freaked out about this whole ordeal. _

_Ugh, then she was like "I have to call someone now." Yeah right, I know that she probably calling Dumbledore and telling him that I've gone completely crazy and that I should be carefully watched while I'm at Hogwarts._

_I swear, something's going on, and I'm going to find out._

_Help!_

_Samantha Riddle _

* * *

**A/N: Dear Readers,**

**Why don't you review? I know that you're out there. I am perfectly capable of reading the Traffic stats so I definitely know that you are there. All that I am asking is for you to review so I can know what you t hink about my story so I can make it better or keep it the same. Thank you, however, to my three reviewers and also to the people who put this on their favorite list. Thanks :)**

**So now, I am only asking for you to say a few words about what you think. You could just say 'nice' or 'bad', whatever, just reiew!**

**Anyways, this chapter _was _going to include her train ride to Diagon Alley but then I thought "Hey, what if Sam found Nagini? What if ickle Voldy-kins sent it to spy on her? Wouldn't it be cool if Sam was a Parseltongue?" So I decided to throw ol' Nagini in there and this came out! I'm pretty pleased with it. It certainly shakes things up a bit.**

**Merry New Year,**

**HANNAH**


	5. The Hogwarts Express

When they left for King's Cross there were a million butterflies released in her stomach. Her mom tried over-and-over again to start a conversation with her, but she never opened her mouth I fear that she would throw up.

"You know, Sami," Carried said as she helped her with her things, "it's just all in your head. It's not bad at all!" "Mom," she moaned, speaking for the first time since they left, "I'll be the only fifth year there! My friends from St. Brunts said that everyone just went to the school in Canada."

"This is the best school in Britain," Carrie told her as they walked into the station. "I'm sure that you're going to have a good time there."

Sam doubted this highly and doubted it even more when she couldn't find Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

"Umm… Mom?" Sam said and stopped bushing her cart to look at the space between the platform of nine and ten. "Do you think they had a misprint in the letter?" she asked but Carrie shook her head.

"No, that's right, there's just a certain way to get to it," she winked and then stopped only ten feet I front of the barrier between platform nine and ten.

Sam stopped too, looking between her mom and the barrier.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"Okay, Sam," Carrie said hurriedly, looking down at her daughter, "we have to run through the barrier."

"What!?"

"Yes, now you can't be scared or you'll just crash into and look rather stupid." Sam nodded and gulped loudly. "You're worried, don't be worried!"

"Oh yes, how incredibly stupid of me to be scared of running towards a stationary object!" she snapped and then sighed. "Alright, lets get this over with." Sam took hold her cart and took a deep breath.

_I can do this…._

She started walking towards the barrier and then broke our into a brisk jog.

_I can do this, I can do this, I can do this…_ she kept telling herself. As she continued to get closer her confidence started to build and she actually started to believe that she was going to get through the barrier.

That was, of course, until she ran into the barrier.

Sam was sprawled across the floor in a second making her cat start hissing and moaning rather loudly. Her things were everyone and she turned beat red in embarrassment. The wind was immediately knocked out of her letting her only lie on the floor and stare up at the ceiling in bewilderment.

Carrie rushed towards her confused daughter on the floor.

"I told you not to be nervous!" she hissed.

"I wasn't!"

"Ma'am," a station guard arrived and looked more confused than Sam, "is she okay?"

"I-" Sam started to say but Carrie interrupted quickly.

"I'm sorry, it-it's my daughter," she told him quickly and then whispered to him. "She's a bit slow," Carrie told her and he nodded.

"It's okay, ma'am," he told her briskly and started to gather up Samantha's things, "no harm done." Then he left them and Carrie tired to ignore the daggers her daughter was sending her.

"Oh thanks," Sam snapped angrily as she brushed the dirt off her clothes, "why don't' I just throw a tantrum on the ground just to play up the act, hm?" Carrie rolled her eyes and ignored her.

"Okay, let's try again and this time think positive."

"I was thinking positive the first time!"

"Anyways," she said, ignoring her, "I'll go with you to. It's better if you get a running start at it so let's do that." Sam agreed and right as they took off running she started to madly scream positive thoughts.

Finally, she was there on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, a scarlet train came into view that read 'Hogwarts Express'. Students were crowding around in groups and girls squealed excitedly when they reunited once again.

_It doesn't look all that bad,' _Sam thought and said this to her mother.

"I told you so. You worry to much, Sam." She was going to say more but she stopped when she saw someone familiar.

"Caroline Riddle?" a voice came from behind Sam who could barely recognize it.

"Lucius!" she smiled warmly at a blonde haired man who smiled back at her. Then she looked over Narcissa who had a forced smile on her face. "Narcissa, it's so good to see you."

"And you too," she said a bit grumpily although she still wore a fake smile on her lips.

Lucius looked like he was about to cry with happiness from this giving Sam the impression that it was a rarity to not have Narcissa and her mother fighting.

"So what brings you here?" he asked and then suddenly noticed Sam. "Oh, Samantha, how could I forget. You're the same age as Draco right?" Sam nodded and Lucius continued on. "Don't worry, you'll do great at Hogwarts. Draco would be more than happy to introduce you to his friends." Sam nodded again and started to grow a bit more confident about Hogwarts.

"Well," Carrie finally said and turned to Sam, "you should probably get on board. Need help with your stuff?"

"No, I got it," she reassured and then pulled her trunk over to the one of the compartments of the train. As she walked away she couldn't help but hear her mother and Lucius talking.

"have you told her?" he asked in a low voice and Sam froze.

"No," Carrie mumbled and looked a bit ashamed. Sam was pretty sure that she could hear Narcissa gasp.

"What!?" Lucius and Narcissa gasped in unison.

"Carrie, what's going to happen at school? What if a student knows? Like Potter-" Lucius started to say before Carrie cut him off.

"Do you not think that I'm worried about what people would say? After reading about Potter's encounters with him, I'm sure he's bound to know something-"

Then they stopped talking abruptly and Sam was sure that they were looking at her so she started walking again.

_What the hell could they be talking about!? What is my mother keeping from me? _These thoughts clouded her brain and she finally snapped out of it when she heard a loud yelp of pain after she through her trunk into a compartment. When she looked inside she was was surprised to find a student lying on the ground and holding his shin.

"Oh my gosh!" she gasped. "I'm sorry!" The student got up and gave her a dirty look. He was beefy and muscled. He had short brown hair and small eyes that seemed even smaller next to his chubby cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered but the boy didn't relax his angry face.

"Shove off," he told her then called her an extremely rude word tha she had never been called before. She gaped at him and then practically dove to the ground to dodge the trunk that he threw back at her.

Muttering explicit words she dragged her things farther down the train to the last compartment. She threw in her trunk and bags and climbed in just as the whistle blew, announcing that the train would be leaving.

"Sam! Samantha!" she heard a woman's voice call. She turned and saw her mother waving madly at her with tears threatening her large, brown eyes.

"Bye!" Sam called and waved out the window until the train started to move away from the platform. She tore away from the window and pulled her trunk and hoisted it above her seat. When she held up her bags she nearly dropped them on her head when she heard a voice. "Hello," a small voice said making Sam jump and whirl around. She found a very good-looking girl sitting in the seat across from her. She had flaming read hair and looked about the same age as her, maybe only a year younger.

"Oh!" Samantha gasped. "I'm sorry, how unobservant of me! I didn't even see you." The girl turned red and then looked out the window.

"It's okay," she mumbled. "So… uh, is that seat taken?" she asked and motioned to the seat across from the red-haired girl.

"No," she shook her head and looked happy to have someone to sit with.

Sam sat down and smiled happily at the girl.

"I'm Samantha Riddle," she told the girl who then looked a bit confused.

"Riddle… why does that seem so familiar?" she asked herself. Suddenly, Sam found herself panicking although she had no idea why. Her mother and the Malfoys' conversation replayed in her mind making her panic even more.

"Maybe it's common," she suggested, trying to act cool. The girl shrugged and then introduced herself as Ginny Weasley. The name 'George Weasley' flashed across her mind but she decided not to mention it.

"What house are you in?" Ginny asked shaking off Sam's day dreams. "I don't think I've seen you before."

"Um, I'm new."

"You're a first year?!"

"No, no, I'm a fifth year, but my school closed so I transferred to Hogwarts," Sam explained and found herself not being embarrassed at all about it.

"Really? Why did it close?" Ginny asked curiously and listened intently as Sam told her about what happened at St. Bruntsworth and her move to Britain.

When she finished, the compartment door opened and two identical looking boys with flaming red hair entered. Both were wearing broad grins and suspicious looking eyes that suggested that hey had just done something illegal.

"Hello, Ginny," one of them greeted her while the other gawked at Sam. That one, Sam decided, was George Weasley. He snapped out of it and then turned a mad shade of red and then smiled at her shyly.

"And who's this?" the other boy asked and looked curiously over at Samantha.

"This is Samantha Riddle, she's new," Ginny informed them.

"Oi, George," his brother looked over at him with a smirk on his face, "isn't this the girl you met in Diagon Alley?" Both Sam and George turned maroon and looked away awkwardly.

"Yeah," he grunted and faked a cough just to have an excuse to cover his face.

Ginny eyed Sam and tried to hide the grin that played at the edges of her lips.

"Anyways," she said and turned to Samantha, "these are my brothers, Fred and George. And speaking of you two, what are you guys doing down here anyways?"

"Just wanted to say 'hey'," Fred explained casually and leaned against he door. "Why aren't you sitting with your friends? We saw them up front and they said that they didn't know where you were." Now Ginny was turning pink. Obviously Fred hit a sore spot and Ginny snapped at him.

"Why do you give a damn, Fred?" she growled and gave him a murderous look.

"My, my, my, aren't we touchy today?" he smirked and then looked over at Sam and winked. "See yeah later, Sami," and then left compartment.

Before George left he muttered a quiet goodbye to Samantha before following after Fred.

"Wow," Ginny said once they left and turned to Sam with a wide grin, "that's the quietest that I've seen George. He _must_ like you!"" Sam quickly looked down at her shows and didn't comment. Quickly, Ginny started to tell Samantha about Hogwarts so she could feel ready and more confident about attending it for the first time.

Samantha was grateful about this and for once she felt ready to got to her new school.

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**A/N: Hello again! Thank you for the reviews and the authors alerts, favorites story list, etc. It was a nice thing to find in my email. :) Anyways this is the Hogwarts express scene which I don't really care for. I do, however, like the 9 3/4 bit when she runs into the barrier. I like the chapter coming up so that'll be exciting.**

**Oh yes! I told you that I'm rereading the Harry Potter series, yes? Well I got new books for christmas but instead of plopping down on the couch and cracking one open I race to my Harry Potter book and start reading again. My mom say me and seemed a little hurt and asked why I wasn't reading the other books. Hastily, I told her that I just wanted to finish it and then I would start Crocodile Tears. It's funny how sometimes she knows nothing about me.... So now I am forced to read the fifth Harry Potter book at night in total secrecy. So I can't bring it to school, read it in my normal ready spot in the upstairs living room, etc. This should be depressing but I feel like a ninja so it's okay!**

**Current Song Playing: Drive by: Incubus and then changing to Slide by: The Goo Goo Dolls**

**HANNAH**

_**P.S. We did such a good job reviewing last time, so lets try for a second time shall we?**_


	6. Welcome to Hogwarts

When Sam and Ginny filed out of the bus Sam couldn't help but stop and stare and awe at her surroundings.

There was a huge lake in front of her and in the distance she could see a large forest and stage coaches that were without horses that students were piling into.

"First Years! First Years please come this way!!" A woman's voice called over the excited squealing of students.

"Wow," she gasped to herself silently from the shock of the great panorama in front of her. and then followed Ginny to a carriage. Before she got in she was stopped when a rough had grabbed her shoulder.

"Oh, Samantha, you have to come with me." she turned around to see the woman that was calling for the First Years stand right behind her.

"Huh?"

"Come on, it's okay." the woman, who introduced herself as Professor Grubbly-Plank and showed her to where the First Years were nervously stepping into the boats. She followed the woman into a boat and then with the flick of her wand they sped off across the lake.

"You will be able to see the castle soon!" the teacher called to everyone and Sam, along with the other students, craned her neck to see the castle coming into view.

"Wow," Sam gasped for the second time that night. It was huge and so grand looking that she completely blown away by it. Everything was so surreal to her. Her old school wasn't as prestige as Hogwarts seemed to be and now that she had seen her new school for the first time. She knew she was going to learn loads.

Once the boats hit the shore, Sam stumbled out and ignored the snickers as she tried to regain balance.

They followed Professor Grubbly-Plank up to the large, oak doors that looked to be the entrance doors. She turned to the crowd of First Years and Sam and smiled politely at them.

"Wait here," she told them, "Professor McGonagall will be with you in a moment." Then she turned and disappeared behind the oak doors leaving the new students alone.

"Are you a First Year?" a girl with jet black hair turned to Sam and asked curiously.

"No, I'm a-a Fifth Year, but I'm new to Hogwarts."

Much to Samantha's pleasure, no one said anything more about the subject since a stern looking witch was now standing in front of them with thinly pressed lips.

"Good evening, I'm Professor McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor house and Transfiguration teacher. Please follow me." Then they all filed into the castle, every one of them shaking slightly as they stared in awe of their surroundings. In front of them was a magnificent, marble staircase and next to that were two staircases, one leading downwards and the one on the right leading upwards.

"Come quickly, we're a bit behind," the no-nonsense professor told them hurriedly and rushed them into the door that was on the right of the entrance hall.

When Sam entered the room she gaped at what she saw. She was standing on the side of a large room that seemed to be the school's eating quarters. There was no ceiling that she could see but instead the sky that she had left when she entered the school.

McGonagall explained to them that when she read off their names they were to walk over to the stool that sat only fifteen feet away in which a hat rested upon it. She told them that once they sat down she would place a hat upon their head and it would place them into the houses.

Then she started calling out names of students. The first to wear the hat was a boy named Euan Abercrombie who was placed into Gryffindor. After a while there was only ten more students left and Sam among them.

The professor looked once again at her list and then announced. "Riddle, Samantha!" she shouted, the blonde girl scurried over to the stool and sat down on it. The hat fell onto her head and there was complete silence.

"Hmmm…" it whispered into her ear. "your family's past could end you in Slytherin, but wait, there's light in you. You want to do great, forget your father completely… wait, do you know of your father?" The hat asked humorously into her ear. To come to think of it, Samantha never knew of her father. Not once did her mother ever talk about it. So why should she forget him? "Hmm, maybe not, I think I know what to do with you… GRYFFINDOR!!!" he yelled loudly and a huge table at the very right cheered loudly with joy.

She happily hopped off the stool and took off her hat and gave it McGonagall. Samantha walked to that table and her eyes searched nervously to find a place to sit.

_I wonder where Ginny is?_ she thought as she slowly walked down.

"Did they say Riddle?" a boy with messy black hair asked his friend with fiery red hair.

"I think so…"

"Don't be silly, you guys!" A girl with bushy, brown hair told them. "Riddle is a very popular name I'm sure!" That seemed to hush them up for moment being. "You can sit here, Samantha!" she called out to Sam who stopped and smiled.

"Thank you, and you can call me Sam." She sat down next to the bushy brown haired girl and another brown-haired wizard with straight hair.

"I'm Hermione, and this is Harry with black hair and Ron with red hair." She informed her and Sam noted the bossiness in her tone.

"Hey, guys." She looked over by them in smiled they smiled back.

"Is your last name really Riddle?" Harry asked, leaving Sam dumbfounded.

_Does it really matter? _

"Yeah-"

They had to quit talking then on account of the headmaster walked up to the podium and started speaking. He welcomed everyone back and then welcomed a new woman by the name of Professor Umbridge who wore a God-awful, fluffy, pink sweater and had ugly rings on her chubby fingers. It took Sam a lot of willpower to not barf on her plate.

He also welcomed Professor Grubby-Plank since theo other Care of Magical Creatures teachers wasn't there at the moment.

"Where d'ya reckon Hagrid is?" Harry whispered to Ron who shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said and then they went back to listening to Dumbledore.

Professor Umbridge talked for awhile and then finally food appeared in front of them and they were able to eat.

"What's your dad's name?" Harry inquired despite the look Hermione was giving him.

"I don't know," She looked down at the plate in front of her and started to pile on potatoes, rolls, and fries. "I never met my dad, he left when I was only a year old… and my mom never talks about him." He dropped the subject.

After that awkward conversation she talked with the three about her life before she found out that she was to go to Hogwarts. This time she didn't turn red once and was really proud of herself that it seemed that she was becoming less shy.

"Do you know any magic?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, I'm a fifth year student… _of course_ I know magic!" Harry and Ron snickered, Hermione, however, just ate her potatoes.

"You took a long time to get your house called," Harry stated curiously.

"Um… yeah," she blushed a bit and decided to discard her last thought.

"Don't worry, it took long for me too. What was the other house you could have been in?" Harry asked her.

"Slytherin," she said plainly, not wanting to mention the evil past part. As she took a bite out of her dinner roll she saw the look that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were giving each other and desperately wanted for them to drop the subject.

"Anyways, wha-" Hermione started to say before she was interrupted.

"Well, well, well, making friends with the wrong people already, Samantha? What would your mother think?" a sly voice called to the girl from behind her. She turned around then smiled brightly when she saw whom it was.

"Draco, how surprising!" She turned around on the bench awkwardly making him chuckle.

"Hugh?" Ron and Harry asked in utter shock. Sam could tell by the look of their faces that they didn't like Draco Malfoy.

"Draco and I are friends through our family," she explained.

"Our dads know; well knew, each other very, very well," he smirked at Harry.

"Draco we have to talk and catch up later!" she insisted.

"Yes we must, but I have to go right now… my friends and I are going back to the common room. See you later, Sam!" he waved goodbye then headed off with his friends.

Harry and Ron didn't even try to hide their horrified expression.

"You know Draco Malfoy!?" Ron shrieked.

"Yeah, and don't give me that look. He's not all that bad!" Sam insisted and they started eating their food again.

"Well let's go back to the common rooms," Hermione announced once they finished the last of their dessert. "I'm getting kind of sleepy."

When they stepped through the portrait of the Fat Lady, Sam decided that she had no idea how she was going to get around the castle. Not only was there seven floors but some of the staircases moved and some of the steps disappeared when you stepped on them. Hermione, Ron, and Harry tried to explain this all to her but Sam knew that she wasn't going to remember it.

Sam also noticed how upset Harry seemed and how people seemed to be whispering about him. She knew all about Harry Potter but she assumed that people would be used to him attending Hogwarts.

Then she remembered reading something in the Daily Prophet that mentioned him. Her mother stopped subscribing to it once they started saying that Voldemort wasn't back and all of these horrible things about Dumbledore. She did recall, however, reading an article that mentioned Harry making it seem as if he was completely mental.

_That's probably it,_she decided as she followed Hermione up to the girls' dormitory and to the round room that she shared with Hermione and four other girls. Two of them introduced themselves as Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil but the other two names were forgotten.

They changed into their pajamas and Samantha hoped to write once again in her journal but just as the thought struck her, she fell fast asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Well here it is! Yes I know the ending was a bit rushed but it's either that or I state the obvious in Sam's POV. Whatever. I spent all of Sunday watching the 3rd and 4th Harry Potter movies. Also! On Saturday I watched House and decided that, that is one of the best shows EVER! Glee and Modern Family are also amazing :) So right now I have four fav shows: Glee, Modern Family, TMZ, and House (not in any order, mind you).  
I better get going on my homework now....  
OH yes!!! I also found out that I got an A- on my World History test today!!! YAY!!! That may be the best test grade I've gotten on any of my WH tests this whole year. I don't test v. well so that's a huge thing for me! YA-MON!!  
****REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS! That would be excellent. :)**

**Cheers!**

**HANNAH**


	7. First Day Fun

When Samantha woke up in the morning, the thought of her being at Hogwarts still wasn't able to settle in completely. If she was going to be honest with herself, she would admit that she felt a bit awkward there. Of course, it was her first day and she knew after a while she would feel better about the new school.

After this thought was done circling her troubled head she noticed that they other girls in her room were still sleeping. The light of dawn was slowing breaking and pouring in through the window. Samantha looked over at her alarm clock and saw that it was five thirty in the morning, a half an hour before Hermione said she woke up.

Sam sighed and then after making sure no one was watching, she decided to write a bit in her journal since she was unable to the night before.

**_September 2, 5:34 AM_**

_**Journal, it still feels strange. Waking up here in this school… I still feel like I should be hearing my mom in the other room, calling me in for breakfast. Is it too soon to miss her?**_

_**Anyways, the people here are nice. I'm in a room with the other girls in my year so that's good. I was afraid I'd be with some annoying first years or mean seventh years. Of course, the worries are silly. Nothing bad is going to happen while I'm here. **_

_**Oh yes! You'll never guess who attends school here! It's Harry POTTER! Weird, eh? Only I decided to not gawk like I'm sure the other kids were doing. I felt bad, he seemed quite angry about it. Hopefully nothing horrible happens to him this year. There's so much shenanigans that he's gotten into that I've read about. I'm sure it'd be nice for him if he a relaxing year for once, but because of the trouble the Ministry and the kids here have been giving him, I'm sure that's out of the picture.**_

_**Wish me luck… first day of classes today, **_

_**Samantha Riddle**_

"Samantha?"

_Right on time,_ Samantha thought humorously as she looked over to see Hermione sit up groggily on her bed and look at her with a confused expression.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Sam muttered and then crawled to the end of her bed to shove her journal into her trunk, "just doing a bit of writing?"

"You have a journal?" she asked, seeming highly interested.

"Er… yeah. I've always kept one since I was about eight," Sam informed, remembering back to when her mother got her first one on her eighth birthday.

Hermione nodded, "I've always wanted to keep one, but whenever I started one I never remembered to write in it." Sam started to rummage through her clothes to fish out her robes and her red sweater.

Once they were both done getting ready, they traveled down to the Great Hall and took a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Ron and Harry where Professor McGonagall was passing out their schedules.

"Well," Ron said, after examining his schedule as well as the others' schedules, "looks like we have the worst classes all in one day."

"History of Magic doesn't seem all that bad," Sam said thoughtfully as she looked at her schedule.

"Not when your teacher is ghost," Harry countered glumly as he dished eggs and bacon onto his plate.

"Really?" Sam gaped.

"Yeah, boring as hell," Ron said and ignored the look Hermione was giving him. "Too bad it's not in the middle of the day, it would be nice to have a good nap."

"Ron!" Hermione shrieked, "you shouldn't be sleeping in class when we have our O.W.L.s this year!"

"Oh yeah," he said glumly and slumped a bit in his chair, "I forgot."

"You've heard of those haven't you, Sam?" she asked, turning once again to Sam.

"Of course, we had them at our school too. Anyways, what does your guys' schedules look like?"

They handed over their schedules to her and she looked at them.

"Oh, Hermione, you have Ancient Ruins too?" she asked excitedly.

"Oh, you signed up for it? It'll be so nice to have a friend in that class," she sighed happily and sipped some of her pumpkin juice.

They spent the rest of lunch talking happily about classes until finally Hermione reminded that their first class started at nine so they ought to get going.

Grudgingly the other three tore themselves away from the amazingly tasteful food and trotted up the staircase to the first floor. Sam followed and tried hard to remember how they got to the History of Magic classroom but as soon as she stepped food into it, she forgot.

Sam was disappointed to find that Ron and Harry were right, the class could have been interesting but Professor Binn's monotone made it painfully boring. She tried to make it interesting though by repeating everything the teacher said in her mind in a more exciting tone. She stopped this, however, when Hermione asked her what she was muttering under her breath.

After a break they went down into the dungeons where Potions was held. Samantha seemed to be the only one freezing as she sat sourly on her stool. When she mentioned this to Ron and Harry she heard a familiar voice call to her from behind.

"Complaining so soon, Sam?"

She whirled around to see Draco smirking at her making her narrow her eyes at him.

"I didn't know I'd be having classes with you, Malfoy," she sneered in mock disgust.

"Just keep to your side of the room, Riddle," he sneered back at her while trying his best to compose his face. They smirked at each other before turning away and talking to their friends.

Harry and Ron were talking about Quidditch so Sam decided to watch their professor who was a man with greasy, black hair, scold Parvati and Lavender for giggling and took ten points from Gryffindor. Somehow she had a feeling that she had meet him before. Sam studied him for a while, taking in his sallow complexion and hooked nose.

"That's Snape, right?" she asked Hermione who sat next to her.

"Yes, a very dreadful man if you ask me," she grumbled and took out her parchment so she could take notes.

Then he called class to order in a matter of minutes and took attendance. When he called out Harry's name she couldn't help but notice the sneer on his face when he said it out loud. Sam also noticed how Harry curtly said 'present' in a manner of such loathing that it surprised her.

She was so caught up on this observation and the fact that she was still trying to remember where she the man from, she didn't hear her name being called.

"Ms. Riddle?" he called loudly taking Samantha out of her day dream.

"Sorry?" she asked and quickly snatched her eyes up quickly to look up at the disappointed looking teacher.

"Just taking attendance," he muttered and then moved on.

By the way all of the students were looking at her she decided that she probably lucked out by not getting any points taken away or not getting detention.

After attendance, Professor Snape droned on about what they were going to do for the day and then finally wrote the directions for the Draught of Peace on the board and gave them all permission to start.

Samantha quickly finished up writing all of the directions on a piece of parchment and then went to gather all of her ingredients and then returned to her and Hermione's desk where they both started working.

She had always liked Potions so she had no trouble creating the mixture and felt extremely sorry for Harry who had forgotten to add in the syrup of hellebore. When Snape walked past her and Hermione's table he frowned down at the only two excelling students in the class.

"Ms. Riddle, I must tell you that I don't condone cheating in my classroom."

"P-professor?", she sputtered after she was done stirring in one of her ingredients which had to sit in her cauldron for a minute.

"Obviously you have been copying Hermione's every move which is considered cheating in my book," he explained with an unpleasant frown making Sam's blood boil. She had not at all copied Hermione and was upset that the professor, who didn't even know her, was accusing her of such a thing.

"Professor, I wasn't copying Hermione at all. You, of all people, should realize that since you can clearly see from the amount of silver mist coming from her cauldron, that she did not let her horsehair grass set for exactly two minutes before stirring." Once Sam had said this she regretted in immensely from the way Snap glared down at her.

"Hmph," was all he said before striding towards Neville's cauldron to shout 'twenty points from Gryffindor!' from the way that Neville's potion was now at the consistency of just-mixed cement.

"Those of you who _have_managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing," announced Snape. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and uses in potion making, to be handed in on Thursday."

Sam wrote the homework down in a planner and then filled up a flagon with her Draught of Peace and brought it up confidently to the front of the room and set it on his desk.

Once they packed up their things and filed out of Snape's classroom Ron seemed extremely interested in how she had become so good at Potions.

"I don't know." Sam shrugged and really wanted to drop the subject since Hermione did not look happy that Sam had pointed out a flaw in her potion to Snape.

"Well it was bloody brilliant," Ron said with a look of new appreciation for Sam as the walk down to the Great Hall to meet up with Harry for lunch.

When they sat down with Harry they all told him how rotten Professor Snape was for being increasingly rude to him even though practically everyone's potion went wrong.

"Hey," a male's voice greeted her and she was surprised to see George Weasley sit down next to her with a grin on his face.

"Oh," she blushed since she had just bit down on her shepard's pie. Once she swallowed it she greeted him back and ignored the burning in her throat.

"I hear you had Snape this morning," he said with a smirk making her assume that he didn't like Snape either.

"Oh yeah, what a ray of sunshine he is," Sam said sarcastically making George laugh.

"Makes you want to hug a puppy, don't it?" he chuckled and then laughed more at Sam's response.

"More along the lines of wanting to kick a puppy."

"I know what you mean, he-"

"Oi!"

They both turned around to see Fred looking at George curiously.

"You coming?"

"Err…" strained George and Sam his eyes sweep over to her out of the corner of her eye. Fred looked over at her and suddenly realized who she was making a smirk appear on his face.

"Never mind then," he said and then Sam watched him walk down the table and take a seat next to a boy named Lee Jordan.

They two turned to look at each other again and smiled. Right when George opened his mouth to talk someone else interrupted.

"George!" They turned around to see a tall, black girl with a long, braided hair jogging over to where they where sitting.

"Hey, Angeline," he said in a bit of an irritated tone.

"Just coming to tell you that we're having tryouts for a new Keeper on Friday at five o' clock. I want the whole team to be there," she told him, not noticing the hint of displeasure of being interrupted on his face.

"Consider me there," he said vaguely and she turned away happily to sit back down with her friends.

"You play Quidditch?" Sam asked intriguingly before taking a bite of her corn.

"Yeah, do you play?" he asked seeming to become greatly excited.

"At my old school I played on the team," she said casually although she was beyond excited to have something that she loved I common with George.

"What position?"

"Beater," she said and then saw that he was now staring at her with wide eyes. " Yeah, I know," she sighed and set down her pumpkin juice, "it's more of a guy's position but I did a damn good job at it so I don't really see-"

"That's so cool!" he cut in and she calmed down once a grin spread across his face. "That's what I play!"

"Really?" Then they set off talking about why they loved that position so much and the injuries they've caused upon the other teams that they've played.

Finally Hermione had to pull her away so they could go to Ancient Ruins right in the middle of Sam's story of how she shattered her jaw.

"See you later!" they finally called to each other and Sam finally cooperated and walked along side Hermione with a giant smile on her face.

_**September 2, 10:23 PM**_

_**I love my life, Journal.**_

_**Happily,**_

**_Samantha Riddle_**

_

* * *

_

A/N: Vikings game today!! WOOT WOOT!!! Sorry, I couldn't think of anything to write. That's why this was delayed. Anyways, the edit thing was being stupid so I could put a line between her journal entries and the other text so I just bolded it. You may be like "whatever" but this really irked me.

Anyways, the 2nd quarter ended at school so this weekend I have NO HOMEWORK!! Woo hoo! AND it's a three day weekend b/c of a teachers' workshop or something.... And I'm so happy that I will no longer have science for the year (that's b/c we have 4 classes a day (each class is 85 minutes long!)) so I'm SO happy! Do you want to know why? Well, I dislike my science teacher with a burning passion of a million, blazing suns. :( He's an asshole. My dad even think so. The crazy thing is, is that my sister actually LIKED him as a teacher when she had him. Crazy, huh?

Vikings ROCK,

HANNAH


	8. Distress Part 1

Her first week at Hogwarts seemed to fly past her and before she knew it, it was Saturday and she was sitting by the lake with Draco Malfoy.

It was actually quite funny, she mused as she waited for Draco to arrive by the lake, about how she and Draco made these plans. It was after a Potions lesson when he made a beeline towards her. Seeing this, Pansy Parkinson quickly ran in front of him with a desperate smile on her face.

"Draco," she greeted him effervescently, "I just can't wait for Quidditch season to start! How do you think Slytherin will do this year?"

"Good," he said, half paying attention to her. Sam saw them out of the corner of her eye but continued to walk slowly so she could hear what he would say to Pansy's jabbering. Knowing Draco, it would be something insulting.

"I was thinking of trying out for the Quidditch team as Keeper, what do you think?" She was now walking backwards and trying so hard to get his attention but his eyes were still locked on Samantha's retreating body.

"I think," he said and then looked over at her much to her delight, "that would be a bloody awful idea. Now shove off, I have to go meet up with someone."

Pansy scoffed and then stopped right in her tracks and watched Malfoy catch up with Sam and greet her with a friendly smile.

"Hello," he greeted her almost breathlessly. Sam smirked at him and then back at Pansy.

"Traffic jam?" she asked.

"Wha? Oh, yeah," he mumbled and then started turning a pale pink. "Anyways, Sam. I was wondering if you'd like to hang out together on Saturday… around one? We could sit by the lake or something…" he look a bit flustered but Sam pretended not to notice.

"Sure, that would be fun." Someone called her name and she looked to see Ron and Harry standing at the end of the hallway with their eyes narrowing on Draco.

"Oh," he sneered once he saw them, "it's them."

"Be nice," she warned, "they're not mean. Unlike some people I have a tendency to hang out with," she gave him another look making him sigh and looked away with a hint of disgust on his face.

"I have to go to History of Magic anyways," he mumbled and then said goodbye to Sam and then hurried away. Harry and Ron approached her now and looked a bit disgruntled by what they just saw.

"You should really stay away from him," Ron warned in a low voice as they started off for Care of Magical Creatures.

Sam ignored him and pretended to rummage through her bag. She perfectly well that she should stay away from Draco Malfoy. They used to visit the Malfoys every year until she was eleven that's when her mother told her that it wasn't safe to visit them anymore and that she should stop writing letters to Draco. Sam didn't need much of a reason for this. She knew that the Malfoys have been rumored to be associated with Lord Voldemort but since her mom wasn't at Hogwarts, Sam decided that she could talk to Draco now as much as she liked. And, she thought bitterly about the hypocritical behavior of her mom, her mother was perfectly okay with talking to Lucius Malfoy at the train station!

"Hey." All of her thoughts were soon forgotten when she heard Draco's voice greet her happily.

She twisted her torso to see the blonde haired boy walked towards her with a smile on his face.

"Hey, take you long enough?" Sam joked.

"Sorry, couldn't shake off Pans - I mean," he blushed a bit and then quickly looked towards the lake, "some friends."

Sam pretended she hadn't heard that part about Pansy and coolly asked how is classes were going.

"Okay," he shrugged, "I don't like school much. It's more of a bother to me than it does help me."

Sam took this bit of information into consideration. She looked at the profile of Draco's serious face and decided that yes, Draco didn't look like a person who particularly enjoyed school.

"What about you?" he asked when ten seconds passed. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

"It's nice… the classes are more difficult than St. Bruntsworth. The food is definitely different, and I'm not used to using parchment or quills really," she babbled on some more until she realized how much she was talked and quickly became quiet.

"And?" Draco pushed. He liked listening to her talk. She seemed to always have an important opinion to say and he always enjoyed to hear it.

"I don't know. The people hear don't make fun of more because of my "accent"," she made air quotes around accent making the boy laugh, "so that's a plus. Well…" she finally confessed, looking down at her hands, "I can tell that life is going to be good at Hogwarts." She blushed when she said this since she thought that what she was saying cheesy and stupid. Draco, however, couldn't help admire her for always seeming to be positive even though he could tell that she wasn't excited about leaving her friends in the United States.

They talked for about an hour before Sam looked at her clock and nearly had a heart attack.

"Oh my gosh!' she gasped and quickly jumped to her feet.

"What?" Draco asked worriedly and also pushed himself off of the grass.

"I have so much homework to do and I haven't started any of it!"

"I think you've been spending too much time with the Granger girl," he said with a smirk but she ignored him and brushed herself off before making her way away from the lake.

"See you later, Drac-"

"Wait!" he said quickly and grabbed her arm and turned her around swiftly. Before Sam knew what was going on Draco Malfoy was pulling her in for a long kiss. Shocked was one of the many words that Samantha would have used to describe the situation. Weird was another, they had been friends for a long time and this was a giant leap from friends considering the intensity of the kiss. The finally broke apart and Sam stared wide eyed at Draco who seemed equally surprised about what he had just done.

"Wow," Sam said after an awkward pause. A large crowd of first years erupted in giggles who were watching them from only twenty feet away. Draco and Sam whipped their heads towards them and glared and the kids instantly turned red and looked away.

"We better get going then," he decided and then they walked silently up to the castle. Luckily, it wasn't an awkward silence, just a thoughtful one. They both replayed the kiss over and over in their minds and it couldn't keep them from smiling.

Right when Sam was back in her dormitory she grabbed her book bag that was filled with homework and books, and headed off to the library to get to work. Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't in their usual places in the common room and she assumed that they'd be there also.

Once she arrived in the library she instantly sensed that there was something wrong in the air. Everyone was whispering and once they noticed her presence the kids' eyes became as round as saucers.

The first thing Sam thought of was her mysterious father who seemed to be mentioned often since she started Hogwarts.

She tried to swallow her nerves as she strolled to her and her friends' usual table in the library. When she reached the table she found them with their heads together and whispering just as the other students were. Sam tried to control the sweat that was threatening her armpits before she finally cleared her throat.

"Hello," she managed to whisper.

The three teenagers turned around and also stared at her wide-eyed. Quickly, they composed their faces and forced a welcoming smile on their faces.

"Hey," they all said and scrambled to pretend like they were hard at work all along.

"What's up?" Samantha asked curiously as she sat down next to them and started pulling out her Charms homework.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione exchanged nervous glances and stammered awkwardly.

"Well… it's nothing really-" Harry tried to explain before Ron interrupted.

"I mean… it's not _that _big of a deal…."

"It just would have been nice to know that you were seeing Draco Malfoy before the whole school knew about it," Hermione said, staring at her Potions book awkwardly and aimlessly flipped the page.

Sam stared at them, not sure whether to laugh or throw something.

Her… with Draco…?

Harry and Ron stared at their books without retaining a single word on the page but stared up at Sam through their lashes instead.

Samantha felt her face grow hot as she tried to find words that could explain the situation and ask how the hell they came up with that.

"How…?" she started to say before Hermione cut her off.

"Some First Years saw you snogging and ran into the library to tell their friends who told their friends who told us." She explained it all so calmly that it made Sam a bit suspicious.

"I'm-I'm not seeing Draco," she managed to sputter making Harry and Ron give out a snort of laughter. "I'm not," she said more firmly, giving the boys a stern glare making them look down at their books again.

"After hearing about you and him snogging, I'm not sure if I can believe you on that one," Hermione pointed out swiftly and started to add more to her Potions essay.

"But-but I'm not," Sam tried again in more of a pleading tone. "It's not like I wanted to. He was the one who kissed me!" Her voice became a bit shrilled making Madam Prince 'SH!' them loudly and glare over at them from her desk. Sam lowered her voice before continuing on. "I'm really not. It was just a kiss. It doesn't mean anything." She told them firmly, trying to convince herself more than her friends.

They shrugged, half believing but half not and continued on with their homework leaving their friend a bit distressed. Sam decided to shrug it off and started working on her Charms homeowork.

Later that night she laid awake in bed even though it was two in the morning. All of the other girls were sound asleep as she was being harassed with her thoughts. She couldn't wrap her head around how much she was disturbed by the thought that people thought her and Draco were dating. She had wondered before if her and Draco would ever date but now she had no idea if it could be possible. At that moment she wanted to wipe the memories of everyone who heard of the nasty rumor so she could be free of the burden.

The other thing that disturbed her was that whenever she thought of people hearing the rumor, the face of George Weasley always appeared. He always looked upset, almost sad but still trying to fake a smile. She was horrified by the thought that, that this was how he when he heard of her and Draco; which she assumed he did.

Finally, she pulled her diary out from under her mattress and took out her lucky pen to write.

* * *

_September 8, Around 2 o'clock In the Morning_

_Why can't men and women live in separate worlds… life would be so much easier?_

_The events that occurred today are unspeakable but I guess I can bring myself to give you a vague outline._

_Draco kissed me… it was strange… in a good but bad way. At first, I confess, I liked it. Now things are obviously different. I've gotten over the kiss, don't worry. But now the whole school has some sort of idea that we're dating._

_I think I might cry._

_What a silly emotion, I know, but I can't help but feel miserable. Especially when I think of George Weasley._

_ARRHGHHH!!!!_

_Sorry, I just had to let it out being as I can't scream it out loud. _

_BLAH (HELP!)_

_A very distressed version of Samantha Riddle._

_

* * *

_**A/N: I believe in a world where people review my chapters... wouldn't that be nice.... ;) No, actually you guys HAVE been good at reviewing, but I couldn't help but be disgruntled when this good streak was broken the last time I updated when NO ONE REVIEWD! *sobs* I don't know whether you want me to not type a single word every again for as long as I live or to keep writing chapters until Samantha Riddle is old and gray and there's nothing else to talk about.... **

**Do you see the problem I have?**

**So I decided to keep writing. I like this story, so I've decided that you should too! So, to avoid my rambles, let's review, shall we?**

**Anyways, a bit about my life: **

**This term in high school is EASY PEASY! YAY! Something I've been longing for since the middle of 1st term. Now, I have no more science, english, or history!! Woo hoo! But MATH! OH GLORIOUS MATH HOW I LOVE YOU! (No sarcasm, I really do love math). It's Adv. Geometry, not Algebra :(, but beggers can't be choosers not can they? Now I think I'll get myself a chocolate Jell-O pudding cup and smack some Whipped Cream on it and call it good. :) Friday tomorrow. Another glorious thing ^_^ especially since this has been the longest week of my life. **

**Weight lifting is over in two weeks then rugby starts. Woot woot! Wish me luck at my weight lifting meet, I'm nervous. :\**

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!**

**Ciao,**

**Hannah**


	9. Distress Part 2

Lord Voldemort sat back in his chair trying to shut out the things that his servant, Peter Pettigrew, was rambling on about. If he would act on instinct, Pettigrew would have been dead a long time ago from the fact that he annoyed the living hell out of him all the time but he was far too useful for that nonsense.

He stroked the head of Nagini and silently wished that Malfoy or another Death Eater would come along so they could shut the short, annoying man up.

Finally, Snape stormed into the room making the squat man quiet instantly.

"Aw…" said Voldemort in his quiet, raspy voice, "what news have you brought for me, Severus?" Severus Snape bowed deeply before speaking.

"It is confirmed that she's attending Hogwarts, my lord." Voldemort took this into deep thought before speaking.

"Well congratulations for her," he smirked at the thought and gave a snide laugh.

"What are your orders, my lord?" Snape inquired, feeling a bit uneasy at his master's response.

A smile still played on the snake-like looking man as he looked down at his very large snake.

"_It's time for you to pay a visit, Nagini," _he hissed in a tongue only the snake could hear. She hissed back seeming to be pleased and then slithered out of the room. Severus and Peter stared at him as he cackled silently with delight.

* * *

Sam shuddered awake from the disturbing dream that she just had. It was about Lord Voldemort who was discussing something about a girl and somehow, Sam knew they were talking about her. She shuddered again, trying to get the dream out of her mind before pushing herself out of her bed and onto the floor.

"Are you okay?" she heard Hermione ask as she changed into jeans and a burgundy sweater.

"Yes, why?"

"You were moaning a lot in your sleep," she informed, making Sam grow hot in the face. "It seemed like you were very disturbed by what you were seeing," she continued, unobservant to the embarrassed look on her friend's face.

"Oh… ju-just a bad dream," Samantha managed to force then turned her back to Hermione and started to change and that was the last the two spoke until breakfast.

After breakfast, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Sam decided to head to the library to work hard on their homework that they neglected over the weekend. Sam and Ron practiced a spell in Charms which ended up in an epic dance off between two books that they charmed. In the end, they were thrown out of the library and forced to work in the common room.

When they headed off to lunch, she was spotted by Draco who cornered her just to say how stupid he thought the rumor was even though he seemed quite giddy about it. Sam side-stepped him by saying how famished he was and escaped to the Gryffindor table along with her friends.

"You've got to tell him how you feel," Hermione mumbled after seeing the look on Draco's face. "He looks absolutely heed over heels for you."

"I know," Sam moaned and rested her head on the table, "but I don't want to be mean to him!"

Ron and Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing but were soon quiet when Sam shot them both a look.

"Hermione's right," Ron said while biting into a tuna sandwich, "he's probably going to ask you out sooner or later."

"And Pansy Parkinson will be itching for a chance to destroy you until you tell him," Harry observed, after seeing the blazing glare that she was giving Sam from across the Great Hall.

"She's the least of my worries," Sam said with an eye roll before taking a bite out of her corn bread. Then, she was delighted to see George walk into the Great Hall accompanied by his twin and Lee Jordan. His eyes scanned the table as if he was searching for somehow until finally they rested on Sam. She gave him a happy smile which he returned with a miserable one and then quickly turned away to look somewhere else. She sighed and then started to pick at her mashed potatoes.

Hermione was the only one her noticed this whereas Harry and Ron started discussing Gryffindor's chance at taking the Quidditch Cup.

"We've got a good team this year," Ron mumbled, still a bit embarrassed about his tryouts. Sam was there, and she thought it went over fairly well, it was just his nerves that got in the way.

"WHOOPS!" A mocking cry rang out behind Sam and soon she was covered in water. She turned around to see Pansy and her friend, Blaise Zabini, who was snickering madly into her palm.

"What the hell are you doing, Parkinson?" she snapped loudly in an infuriating tone. It took every amount of will power to not punch her in her stupid pug face.

Pansy smirked at her as she gave her false explanation. "What ever do you mean, Samantha? I was just _accidentally _bumped by my friend Blaise here and I just _accidentally _spilt my water on you." Her smirk was growing wider and wider by the second Sam had every notion to wipe it clean off.

"If you were smart, Parkinson, you would shut your ugly face and run off to your common room with your just as ugly friend here," Sam said in a low, threatening voice. Pansy tried to look brave but the look on Sam's face made every bone in her body turn to ice.

"Is-is that a threat, R-r-riddle?" she tried to ask calmly making Samantha laugh.

"Yes… yes it is."

By this time the Great Hall was dead silent and everyone was tentatively watching Sam and Pansy's conversation. Even the teachers found themselves too fascinated to move from their seats.

"You're just a whore, Sam... a stupid, ugly, whore and your friends over there are-"

Sam's fist silenced Pansy once it made contact with her nose. She feel backwards and blood erupted from it like a fountain making Pansy shriek and grasp it in pain.

Now the teachers could move and were rushing to the two girls before Sam did any more damage to Pansy who was being wrestled off of Pansy by Snape and McGonagall.

"You are so lucky there are teachers around you foul, ugly, little-!" Sam screamed and soon profanities were erupting from her mouth before she could even think about what she was saying.

"That's quite enough, Riddle," Professor McGonagall said in a low, warning voice as Professor Umbridge marched over with a look of satisfaction on her toad-like face.

"Detention!" she cried, pointing her chubby finger at Sam.

"HA!" Sam laughed maniacally making the teacher jump. "Like hell I give a damn what you do to me!"

"Samantha, _please_," McGonagall exasperated but was cut off by Umbridge.

"Don't help her, Minerva," she said holding a palm towards the angry looking woman.

McGonagall let go of Samantha's arm in anger and forgot all about Snape who now had to control a maniacal laughing Sam who was fighting Snape's grip.

"She's crazy!" someone cried out from Ravenclaw and a murmur of agreement followed.

Samantha turned to him with a smile on her face that supported what the boy had accused. "Of course I am," she laughed but then quieted anyways. She was getting quite sick of her laughing anyhow….

She looked up at Dumbledore and assumed that he thought that she was a nutter as well, but she was surprised to find him smiling as if he was watching a highly amusing film.

"Come with me," Snape muttered in her ear as McGonagall and Umbridge started arguing loudly. She didn't resist this time and he lead her away from the Great Hall and to his office in the icy cold dungeons.

She was shivering madly from the cold and it only helped a bit when she sat down on the couch in his office which had a roaring fire in it.

"Sam, that was a very foolish thing you did," he said sternly as he looked down at her from where he was sitting at his desk.

She shrugged and looked away and stared at her surroundings.

"You think this is funny?!" he demanded angrily and it didn't help that she replied with a smirk.

"Of course not," she said in a matter-of-fact sort of way, "I don't particularly enjoy having detention, especially with Umbridge."

"_Professor _Umbridge," Snape corrected but Sam just shrugged and looked away again.

"What about your peers?" he pressed on, he assumed that no one liked being thought of as crazy.

She laughed at this and looked at him, seeming to be quite amused by his question. "Do you really think I care about what people think of me?" she asked.

"Well-"

"Of course not!" she said enthusiastically, throwing her hands in the air. "I used to, I'll give you that. But now, I've found that I don't give a damn."

"Watch your language," Snape warned, but she looked over this warning just like the other one.

She reminded him of someone, the professor decided as he stared at her curiously. Who it was, was still a mystery to him, though.

Then, the office door burst open and Dumbledore was standing in the office smiling pleasantly at them.

"Hello again," he greeted him and then stepped into the office and closed the door behind him.

"Sir," Snape nodded to him and then looked back at Sam starting to grow a bit annoyed with her.

"Hello, sir," Sam chirped making Dumbledore's smile grow broader.

"Samantha," he said as he sat down on a chair next to the couch, "I see you are very pleasant despite today's events."

"Very much so, sir," she replied.

"And you don't regret what you've done to Miss Parkinson?"

"No."

"I didn't think you would," he said and then his frown disappeared. "I don't blame you, Sam. You are a young girl who is oblivious to consequences. Don't retort, it's true. But you will have to be aware of what could happen if this occurred again." he warned and she nodded obediently. "As you have probably already assumed, Professor Umbridge isn't just here to teach you students Defense Against the Dark Arts."

_And she isn't even doing that,_ Sam thought murderously but nodded and forced back the comment patiently.

"She has come to make sure that Hogwarts does not tell the students the truth that the Ministry is trying so hard to cover up. Sam, Professor Umbridge is a cruel woman in her own way, and if you continue to carelessly break school rules she will have no problem getting permission from the Ministry to punish you in ways that are horrible in a strange but true way. Do you understand me?" Sam nodded once again. She was furious with Umbridge for ruining her first year at Hogwarts but was finding herself about frustrated with Dumbledore for standing aside and letting these things happen.

"But couldn't you-?"

"No, Samantha," he smiled at her sadly, "there is nothing I can do. Believe me, I would if I could." This made her a bit less upset but she still angry to say the least.

"Now," Dumbledore said, standing up and striding towards the door, "I best be going. You two may continue with your talk. Severus," he gave Snape a knowing glance and Snape replied with a simple nod before returning to look at Sam. The door shut and Snape opened his mouth for the first time in a while.

"Do not let me catch you fighting again, Riddle," he told her curtly and Sam could tell that this was the end of their conversation.

"So I'm allowed to if you won't catch me?" she asked, giving him a bit of cheek. He glared at her and stood up.

"You may not realize this, Samantha, but I am trying to help you. If you were Potter I would send your ass to detention every night this month and take an incredible amount of points away from Gryffindor!"

"Oh how reassuring!" Sam barked with laughter. "Being compared to a student you _loathe_!"

"If you only knew how much I'm putting my neck out for you, Riddle," he sneered angrily.

The fact was she _didn't _how much he was sacrificing for her. He was ordered by her father to watch over her while she attended Hogwarts and that he wasn't to give her any detentions or to take away any points from her house if it is by her cause. She had given in many chances to do both of these things but he resisted the strong urge. Not only did he do this but try to eliminate any way that Voldemort had to contact Sam. This was a daring move for he could have been killed if Voldemort were to find out about what Snape was doing.

Sam, not knowing this, only took none of what Snape said in to account and bluntly said goodbye before closing the door to his office loudly.

_No, _Snape thought bitterly as he reached down to the ground to pick up pieces of parchment that flew of his table when Sam left, _she's doesn't remind me of someone. She reminds me of _two_ people._

And now, Professor Snape knew who those two people were.

Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

_September 8 - 10:07PM_

_Blah… I have detention every night at five for two weeks. Stupid Professor Umbridge. What a dreaded woman she is. Do you remember me telling you of her? I bet you spine is breaking away at the thought. At least I have detention with Harry who has it at the same time as me and with Umbridge also. What am I going to do when he gets done, though? He only has five more days to go with his…. Ugh, I don't even want to think about it anymore._

_I bet you're wondering what I did to NOT deserve this dreaded punishment. Well, I punched Pansy Parkinson for insulting me and my friends. Also, for mockery, you cannot forget that. I almost beat her up horribly if Professors Snape and McGonagall didn't hold me back. Some kid said that I was insane, looking back I don't blame him for thinking so. While the professors were holding me back I was laughing like a maniac and swearing up a storm. Ha, ha, ha. Hermione thinks that I overreacted a bit but George said it was 'bloody brilliant'. Harry and Ron thought it was good to but also agreed to Hermione. They started getting a bit freaked out when I started laughing like Sirius Black. Well, I got a kick out of it and I'd easily do it again._

_Maybe _not_ the laughing part though. I'm beginning to get a little afraid of myself when I start thinking about it more…._

_Then Snape dragged me off to his office to scold me and tell me how much he was sticking his neck out for me. Oh yeah, Snape, not giving me detention and not taking away points is SO brave of you…._

_Asshole._

_So, all and all, today was part 2 of my stressful weekend. I don't think a did a good job on my essay for Transfiguration now looking back, but I'm too tired to even think about that._

_Sleepily Yours,_

_Samantha Riddle_

_

* * *

_

**A/N: 'Sup! The time when I wrote that diary entry was 10:07PM actually. Now I'm 10:43PM and I"m extremely tired. Thanks for the reviews, by the way. Let's keep up the good work, shall we?**

**Today rocked, I must tell you before I say goodnight. Here was my dad:  
1st Hour: Math. Got yelled at by our annoying and creepy sub who we ignored and continued to be loud and obnoxious. I didn't get anything done but let my friends cheat off my worksheets since they never have any idea what they're doing in our class and talked to them the whole class period.  
2nd Hour: Lg. Animal Science. Did nothing, once again. I tend to do a lot of that in high school. It's a good thing I get A's. Anyways, went to the library and tried to work on my Power Point but mustered out two sentences before saving and then checking the olympics website to see the standings. Then, I got kicked off the computers even though I told the librarian I was there for educational purposes. My sister then came to the library to deliver a worksheet to me from out teacher who was in the computer lab with the rest of our class. I tried to get her to stay but she had to leave, so I ate the librarians candy and wrote me friend a not who was in the other room.  
3rd Hour: Spanish. We watched a movie and made fun of it and reviewed out chapter for our test tomorrow. We actually did something in this class! :D That's really it. Spanish is quite easy, but it WAS the first chapter we were learning and I DID take Spanish in middle school.  
4th Hour: Ahh.... Oh yes, Fashion. My friend and I worked on our project and laughed and joked most of the time. Our sub kept coming over by us and it was kind of annoying. We don't usually do much in this class being as there's only 15 people and they're all girls. **

**As you can see, I have a v. easy classes this term. **

**So that was a bit of what happened at school today. I was shocked with an unsettling truth about my friend which I found out through the grapevine and was later confirmed by her on Facebook. Now I'm a bit disturbed..... **

**I'm rambling and avoiding sleep; like usual. **

**G'night,**

**Hannah**


	10. Fun With Umbridge

"Well look at this," Ron mumbled darkly the next day at breakfast as he peeked over at Hermione's latest edition of the Daily Prophet. In dark letters, the dreaded words stretched across the top of the page.

**MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM **

**DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED FIRST-EVER "HIGH INQUISTOR"**

"What!?" Samantha screeched loudly making several people turn to look at her and cast her dirty looks. No one really got over the events that took place the day before. She was dubbed crazy by half the study body and half of that half were unsure. Sam paid no attention to them and listened to Hermione read the article out loud.

"And they actually think we're going to listen to her?" Sam growled and murderously stabbed her eggs.

"We have to!" Hermione said, seeming appalled by what Sam had just grumbled.

"But _why_?" Ron complained, sounding like a five-year-old.

"Because, we don't want Umbridge to blab to the Ministry that Hogwarts students are... are... complete nuisances to society and Hogwarts could be shut down!"

"You don't really think that-"

"That the Ministry would go to that extreme?" Hermione challenged Harry.

"It makes sense," Sam sighed, "the Ministry thinks that Dumbledore's an idiot anyways, they'd love any reason to get rid of Dumbledore and especially Hogwarts all together." Hermione nodded appreciatively at Sam and then sipped some of her pumpkin juice.

"I can't wait to see McGonagall being inspected," said Ron giddily. They all smiled a bit at the thought until Hermione jumped up and announced that they should be getting off to History of Magic, just in case Umbridge is inspecting it.

They all agreed and grabbed their book bags and started shuffling off to another boring day of Professor Binns's class. Thankfully, Umbridge was nowhere in sight when they reached the classroom so they talked idly as they waited for class to begin.

Sam was disappointed that the class wasn't much of an improvement as last Monday and sighed as she pulled out some parchment and started writing down notes.

Afterwards they went off to Potions where she cringed as Snape smirked at those who got D's on their essays. Sam, embarrassed when she saw Harry's D, quickly put her moonstone essay away before anyone could see the large 'O' on hers and waited for the instructions on the assignment of the day.

Again, it was a successful day in Potions when she finished her Strengthening Solution that turned a brilliant shade of turquoise. She was especially happy to see that Harry did well with his potion and looked away shamefully when she saw the pink liquid in Neville's potion.

At lunch, Samantha spent most of it staring at her plate but not eating much of anything. It was going well until Fred, George, and Lee Jordan sat down by them and starting talking with the others about grades. She couldn't help but see George doing almost the same thing as her only once and a while he laugh and force a witty comment and then go back to picking at his food in silence.

Other students sat down at the Gryffindor table forcing them to scoot over until finally George and Sam were sitting across from each other.

"Hello," they mumbled to each other awkwardly.

"Ha-have you had a class with Umbridge in it yet?" she managed to ask. He nodded and looked quite pleased that she was talking to him.

"Yeah, Charms. It wasn't that bad, though. Flitwick just treated her like a guest and carried on through the class as if she wasn't there."

"That must have been a horrible experience for her," Sam muttered darkly and then looked up to see him staring at her with a confused expression. "She didn't get to ruin anyone's future... must've been the hardest hour of her life." He laughed at this and then they slowly started having a normal conversation.

"Sam!"

She looked over to see Hermione, Ron, and Harry standing a couple yards away from her, ready to leave the Great Hall.

"Oh yeah, sorry!" she called back and then frowned at her plate to see that she hardly at a thing.

"Sorry," George apologized, feeling as if it were his fault that she hadn't eaten.

"It's not your fault," she said with a smile and then grabbed a handful of delicious dinner rolls and pulled her bag over her shoulder before saying goodbye to the red head and bounding towards her friends.

"You really have to ask her out, mate," Fred said, slapping his twin on the back.

"I really wish you'd stay out of it," he retorted eating a bite of his potato chowder soup.

"C'mon, you _obviously_ like her, and she _obviously_ likes you!"

"She does?" asked George, seeming quite pleased with this bit of information.

"Are you always this unobservant?" His comment received a punch in the arm and a snigger by Lee Jordan.

"Fred's right, George," Lee piped, "you gotta do it sometime. Why not now?"

"Oh... shove off," was all the disgruntled teen could say before pushing his plate away, gathering up his things and marching away promptly.

* * *

Sam sat with Ron and Harry at one of the small tables in the Professor Trelawney's classroom and looked over at Professor Umbridge nervously. The usually cheery air of their Divination classroom died when they noticed her presence. It didn't help that Trelawney was a nervous wreck. She sat at her desk, fidgeting and never looking her students in the eye when they asked a question.

"All right, Sam, you go first," Ron announced as he took out his copy of _The Dream Oracle_. "Quick think of a dream in case that hold hag decides to visit."

"Ahh..." Sam thought and casted a nervous glance towards the toad-like woman who was now pacing through the room, observing the students.

The last thing she wanted to do was share what her real dreams were being as the last dreams that she could remember involved Lord Voldemort.

"I was... buying socks at Gringotts," she blurted, saying the first that came to her mind. They boys gave her a strange look and seemed deeply confused.

"Well it's the first thing that I thought of," she snapped and then turned to Ron promptly. "What does your book say about that?"

"When did you have this dream," he yawned and flipped through pages of his book.

"I don't know... two nights ago."

"Uh... okay...." With Ron immersed in his calculations, Sam and Harry started watching Umbridge like a hawk when she waddled towards Trelawney who was sitting at her desk.

They listened to their conversation intently and afterwards decided that Trelawney's inspection wasn't going well. But their sympathy towards the fraud wore thin when she predicted an early death for Harry and told Samantha that Christmas would be a dreadful time for her.

"What an old hag!" Samantha proclaimed loudly as they walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Sam, it's not like it's going to come true," Harry said, coming from a world of experience.

"Of course it is," Sam said, seeming to be oblivious to what Harry and Ron told her about the predictions she announced the past two years.

"But you-" Ron started to say but was cut off by the blonde quickly.

"No, I mean, I _know_ she's a fraud, but I always end up having a shitty Christmas, so it's obviously apparent that she is a fraud because if she were a true seer she would obviously know that I always have a bad experience during Christmas," she explained making Harry and Ron nod but a bit suspicious of why she would have a bad experience during Christmas of all holidays.

"Why are your Christmases always bad?" Ron asked, trying to seem innocent but Sam just shook her head. She mumbled something along the lines of not wanting to talk about it and looked away from them as she shuffled alongside them as they entered the classroom.

* * *

_Defense Against the Darks Arts,_ Sam thought darkly as filed out of the classroom along with her peers, _should be renamed to 'Learn What a Bitch Umbridge Is'_. She told this to her friends making Ron and Harry laugh. Hermione tried to force back a smile as she looked disapprovingly at Samantha.

Harry now had another week of detention for opening his large mouth and back talking Umbridge. Sam was happy with Harry's move, she was a fan of fighting the system, especially when the system was a big git.

"Hey," Sam smiled at George as she sat next to him at dinner. She quickly shoved the first thing she saw on her plate and continued to do the same with the other foods that surrounded her.

"Hungry?" he asked with an amused smile making her scowl at him.

"No, detention with Umbridge at five."

"Poor you, what do you 'spect she'll do to you?"

"Harry said that he has to write lines so I assume that I'll be doing the same."

"Well that's not too bad is it," he said, giving her a weak smile.

"Yeah," she sighed and gulped down some pumpkin juice, "but I'm sure she'll make it horrible somehow."

And it was true, she found after starting her lines. Right when she started her first line of _I will not use foul language in school_ she felt a sharp pain in her hand. Not wanting to make a scene, she kept quiet and quickly looked at her hand.

To her surprise, a small drop of blood could be seen making her a bit queasy. Blood was not something she enjoyed.

"Anything wrong, Miss Riddle?" Sam could practically hear Umbridge's smirk through her strangely sweet voice. Annoyed, she looked over at the toad woman from the desk she sat at and glared at her angrily.

"No, thank you," she retorted bitterly and went back to writing and clenched her jaw in annoyance and to get through the scorching pain on her left hand.

After a half an hour of writing a clever idea formed in her dark mind. She switched hands when Umbridge was counting her knits in the ghastly awful sweater she was making, and started writing _Umbridge is an idiot_. She wrote slow, making sure she wouldn't ruin what was going to be permanent on her hand. After a half hour she got used to it a tiny bit and then switched back to her dominant hand to write her original lines.

It went on like this until it was finally time of them to go.

"_Tut, tut, tut,_" Umbridge clucked as she examined Sam's hand, "not getting very far I see." Sam remained silent as she shot down the horrible woman with her eyes.

Once her and Harry left Sam couldn't help but let out a long awaited outrage.

"What a horrible woman!" she yelled loudly, ignoring the old paintings that shouted at her to shut up.

"Tell me about it," Harry grumbled as the turned a left to walk up a staircase to the Gryffindor Tower.

"I can't believe you had to put up with that for a week! I would go insane!"

"Well get used to it, you have it for two weeks." Sam swore angrily at remembering this bit of horrid information. She sighed as they told the Fat Lady the password in unison and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Do Ron and Hermione know?" Sam inquired as they collapsed down on their favorite armchairs to work on their homework.

"Yes, they want me to go to McGonagall about it."

"Why don't we?"

"Because it will just give Umbridge the satisfaction that she wants and I don't want to show her that I can't handle her," Harry fumed and Sam could understand his reasoning. Showing weakness wasn't something she liked doing.

They decided that Ron and Hermione were in the library since they weren't anyone in the tower so the two friends started working on their long and dreaded homework.

Around midnight, Harry called it quits and shuffled up the stairs to the boys' dormitory after Ron who had arrived with Hermione in the Common Room only two hours ago. Sam, wanting to make sure all of her homework was perfect, stayed up in the lonely room.

Suddenly, the portrait swung open to reveal two boys with blazing red hair climb through the portrait hole. They were laughing hysterically and wearing a pair of mischievous grins.

"What'd you two do now?" Sam asked with an amused smile. They walked over to her - more liked strutted, Sam thought inwardly - and sat down in front of her. The blonde girl sat up on the carpeted floor to get ready to listen to what she knew was going to be a hilarious story.

At once they started talking animatedly and so fast that it was hard for her to keep up and more than once she had to tell them to repeat themselves which they always did in perfect unison.

"Threw them right on the top of her head-"

"-One almost hit her in the eye-"

"-Then we heard Filch coming around the corner-"

"-And Mrs. Norris made a fit-"

"-Then George here aimed one at that blasted cat-"

"-Missed by an inch!-"

"-Couldn't see what happened next-"

"-Had to make a run for it-"

"-Or Filch would have been bound to see us!"

Once Fred finished up the story of how they threw dung bombs at Pansy Parkinson, Sam was hysterically laughing and gasping to catch her breath. They all talked for a while until Fred left for his dorm leaving George and Samantha alone.

"I don't know what Hogwarts would do without you guys," Sam mused as she went back to practicing a Transfiguration spell on a candle.

"To be honest, I don't know either, especially with that toad, Umbridge around," George chuckled and watched Sam with interest.

They talked into one in the morning until Sam couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

"Are you okay?" George asked with a laugh as she watched Sam trying to pry her eyes open.

"I just... need... to write... one... more... word..." Sam mumbled sleepily barely able to even utter a sentence.

"Done," she gasped once she finished her essay for Herbology and practically threw her parchment into her bag and collapsed against the chair she sat in front of.

"Don't strain yourself, love, or you're going to hurt yourself," George said with a silly grin on his face but Sam couldn't hear him. Once she closed her eyes she was sound asleep.

When she woke up it wasn't morning like she expected it to be, but only ten minutes later. Once she opened her eyes she saw a boy with fiery red hair lowering her onto her bed in her dorm.

"George," she gasped and stirred uncomfortably in his arms.

"That's me," he smirked making her roll her eyes.

"How'd you get up here?" Sam whispered making his smirk grow larger.

"I have my ways, Samantha Riddle. Don't you know that by now?" he asked in mock sadness making her break into a smile.

"Shouldn't you be running back to your dorm now?" she asked in fake anger making him laugh silently.

"Nah, I think I'll just camp out here for the night," he winked and pushed Sam over to make room for himself on her queen size bed.

"Think of the horror Hermione will feel when she wakes up," Sam said with a laugh making George equally amused.

"'Mione, Shmione," he said, batting the air as if to say 'whatever.'

They laid there silently for a moment making George grow nervous.

_Does she want me to leave? Is that why she's quiet? Does she think I smell bad? I didn't think the smell of the dung bombs got to me... Oh no, my hands are probably all dirty! Hopefully she won't notice...._

Slowly, George wrapped his arm around her shoulders and cringed when Sam stiffened from his touch.

"Do you want me to go?" George asked quietly.

"No," Sam told him in a surprised sort of way and forced herself to loosen up.

_Do not act like a prude who has no experience with guys!_ she thought angrily to herself and then also added, _Even if it _is_ true._

She rested her head on his warm chest and listened to the beating of his heart as she fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

**A/N: I'm disapointed. But isn't this one loooooong? It's 7 pages on Micro. Word. Sorry if you're upset about the size of this, but at least it's better than a short chapter, right? **

**Wishbone Meet tomorrow for weight lifting. WISH ME LUCK! I'm so nervous! So is my sister, but just watch, she's DEFINITELY going to win. She bench presses 145 and she's a sophmore. How's that for strong, huh?**

**Please, please, PLEASE review! I really don't want to sit through another week of NO REVIEWS WHATSOEVER!! It made me sad... :'(**

**ALSO I just saw the best movies every while I was away trying to pick up some insparation. And they happen to be: The Breakfast Club (AWESOME!!! The rebel guy is HOT!), Sixteen Candles (OMG I LOVE JAKE RYAN! ;]), and Up (so cute! I love Dug :])... and that's it? Oh yes, I also watched some of the Hangover. V. funny so far. OH YES! How could I forget Ferris Bueller's Day Off? It is AMAZING! Yeah, don't be shocked that this is the first time I've seen these movies. But in my defense I've seen part of The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles on ABC Family. **

**Mmmm... my sister's making a smoothie. :) Yum!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Hannah**


	11. Kisses and Hogsmeade

The next morning Sam found herself alone in her bed making her believe that the night before was just a dream and never really happened.

"It didn't happen," she stated in a serious tone after debating about the matter in her mind.

"What didn't happen?"

Samantha jumped at the sound of Lavender Brown's voice and blushed a mad shade of red when she realized how stupid she probably sounded.

"Oh... ah, I just had a bad dream... it seemed really real so-"

"And you thought it really was real? That happens to me _all _the time!" Lavender continued babbling on making Samantha thankful that the girl was conceited so she wouldn't press the matter like she knew Hermione would have done.

Just as she was about to walk into the Great Hall for breakfast she felt someone pull her to the side and in the blink of an eye she was facing a dark wall.

She realized that she was standing in a broom closet that was located in the Entrance Hall, but whoever it was who pulled her in was beyond her.

"Hey," a voice said in more of a mocking tone than anything and she instantly recognized it. A bit shocked, she turned around and stared at the face of Draco Malfoy.

_This is wrong,_ was the first thing she thought. She didn't like Draco and being in a broom closet with him would definitely send a wrong message. He liked her, and it killed her to think about what would happen if George knew about what was going on.

"Wha-what are you doing?" she asked, trying to keep calm. He smirked at her, not picking up on the meaning behind her stutter at all.

"I'm kidnapping you of course."

"Oh yes, how foolish of me to think anything else." Draco laughed at her sarcasm and stepped a bit closer to her.

"You know what broom closets are used for, don't you, Samantha?" he asked with his smirk growing large by the second.

"Yes, storing things," Sam said pointedly and started growing angry at the sound of his laughter.

"Very comical," he said before leaning in to kiss her fully on the lips.

There was no magical pull in the kiss but Draco was determined to make it work. He stepped towards her even closer and pushed her against the back wall of the closet.

_This is wrong, _Sam thought over and over again but her mind tricked her into kissing Draco back. Instead of Draco standing before her she pictured that it was George who was actually grabbing her blonde hair and pressing himself against her body.

_Stop, stop, stop... STOP!_ her mind screamed to her and finally she did. She tore herself away from Draco's grip and in the process, banged her head against the brick wall. Her hand held the back of her head and moaned in pain while Draco stepped back and stared at her in shock.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" he said in a hurried tone and turning her around so he could take a look.

"No blood," Sam announced and turned away from him and winced in pain.

"Oh," was all he said and took a step back from her awkwardly.

Neither of them spoke, Sam looked away and tried to find some confidence to break the news about her true feelings to Draco easily while Draco stared at her with interest.

"Look... Draco," Sam sighed and looked up into his grey eyes, "we shouldn't be doing this." Relief washed over her after she finally spit out what she wanted to say since he pulled her into the broom closet.

"Don't be a prude, Sam, we're not going to get caught," he smirked at her making her grow angry.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?" he asked, becoming annoyed that he had no idea what she was thinking.

"I mean, that I don't like you in the way you think I do."

Finally, she said the truth about what she really felt about Draco.

Draco was frozen in place, that was not what he was expecting her to say. His heart seemed to stop and he couldn't help but grow angry. Then why had she lead him on, he wondered and stared at the ground in frustration. Did she enjoy playing with his emotions, he never let people into his lift in the way that he did with Sam. He really liked her and then she just turned around and broke his heart.

"Leave," he whispered making her wince slightly from hearing the pain in his voice.

"Draco-"

"Just. Leave," he told her sternly and leaned his head against the brick wall. A bit scared, Samantha slowly left the closet and thanked God when no one saw her. She had a enough to work out without having to conjure up a believable lie pertaining to why she was in a broom closet.

She met with her friends in the Great Hall and acted like everything was okay. On the inside, however, she felt horrible and wanted so badly to go back to Draco so she could embrace him and tell him what he wanted to hear, but she knew that she couldn't. It would only make the situation worse and she would be even more confused.

Her friends suspected nothing for her skills at hiding her true emotion were impeccable since she spent most of her life doing so. She left for Ancient Ruins with Hermione and listened to her gab away about homework.

Things slowly turned back to normal and Samantha found herself in a rut which, to her, sadly didn't involve Draco Malfoy. Harry and Ron wondered about the abruptly ending friendship between Sam and Draco but didn't question her about it since their happiness out- ranked their curiosity. Things between her and George never changed, they became good friends who both had secret feelings for each other but they were both too chicken to admit it.

Finally, it was October and their first Hogsmeade weekend. Samantha was too excited to even start her homework on Friday night despite Hermione's protests.

"You're going to be stuck indoors all day on Sunday if you don't do it now!" her brown-haired friend complained loudly while they all sat in the common room.

"No," Sam said as she and George set up a game of Wizard's Chess, "I can do some when we come back from Hogsmeade."

"Ha! Like that's going to happen."

"Hermione," George complained, growing tired of the girl's mother-like conduct, "would you stop riding on Sam? If she doesn't want to do you her homework she doesn't have to," he reasoned making Hermione glare at the red head but gave up her protests and went back to her studies.

Next morning, Sam woke up extraordinarily earlier than usual and got dressed at lightning speed. She pulled her favorite red, knit sweater over her head and wore her comfiest pair of jeans. At six thirty she slipped on a pair of her black, suede, _Puma_ tennis shoes and walked out the door of her dorm.

When she arrived at the Common Room she realized that she was the only one up, so she worked on homework until finally Hermione, Ron, Harry, and George all woke up.

They ate breakfast; fried eggs and bacon, and then trotted outside to get a carriage to Hogsmeade. Grudgingly, George was pulled away by Fred and Lee Jordan right when he was about to enter Sam, Hermione, Harry, and Ron's carriage.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade she was quickly cornered by George much to her pleasure.

"Ever been to Hogsmeade?" he asked her excitedly right when she stepped out of her carriage.

"No," she told him and then looked around at the village before her. The little shops and pubs looked like a picture that you'd see in a calendar. The first snow of the year had come and covered the shops and the ground with it. Hogwarts students could be seen running throughout the village. The Third Years stared into shop windows with their eyes wide with wonder.

Sam felt someone brush against her shoulder and she looked over to find George smiling over at her.

"Are you ready for a magnificent Weasley tour?" he asked her making a smile grow on her face.

"I am, I don't know about you, though," she smirked, feeling cheeky that day. He rolled his eyes and they started off down the road and George started to gab about each of the shops right away. The Three Broomsticks came up first and George quickly promised her that he'd buy her a Butterbeer later on. They kept going and passed a couple houses and stores and the Shrieking Shack where she was informed that it was the most Haunted Building in Britain. George wore a face that made Sam suspicious of him as he told her this. It was almost as if he was enjoying his own personal joke. She dismissed this when they came upon Honeydukes.

"C'mon," he said, motioning her into the sweet shop.

"No," she said, even though she wanted to go in, "it's okay, we can keep going."

"Yeah right," he laughed, "I can see the look in your eyes. Let's go," he said again and finally she walked giddily into the store with him.

She was instantly blown away by the amazing amount of sweets that seemed to be everywhere in the shop. There were rows upon rows of chocolates and a chocolate fountain. As she looked at all of the sweets, George slipped away momentarily to pick up all of the chocolates that he imagined that she'd like. He bought it at the counter and found Sam eyeing up some chocolate cauldrons making him happy that he picked her up some. He slipped his arm around her waist making her stiffen up immediately.

"Ready?" he asked, staring into her striking green eyes. She nodded wordlessly with a shocked expression but still kept a smile on her face. They left the shop and George handed her the bag of sweets.

"What's this?" she asked and then her eyes widened when she saw what was in the bag. "For me?" she asked and he nodded with a grin on his face. "Oh, George, you shouldn't have! I'm mean, this is so sweet, but you didn't have to spend your money on me!" she cried happily making the boy roll his eyes.

"Of course I have to, love. Now let's finish up this tour so we can get some Butterbeers, I'm freezing my arse off," he told her with a wink making her giggle and they continued on eating some of her chocolates along the way.

When they circled around and walked back to the Three Broomsticks they found it to be packed with students leaving there no room to sit down.

"Do you want to get our Butterbeers to go?" he asked and Sam agreed so they walked up to the bar and bought their drinks and left. He led her down a path when they were outside that led to a vacant spot where they could see the Shrieking Shack.

"It looks so cool," Sam smiled happily as she sipped her Butterbeer. George remained silent as he was too transfixed in staring at her profile to respond. Her nose was straight her lips were full and had a splatter of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She didn't have the high cheekbones that she wished to have, but he thought she was beautiful the way she was.

"George?" He snapped back into reality and saw her staring him in confusion.

"Yeah?" he asked and drank the rest of his Butterbeer before standing up and throwing the empty bottle into the woods.

"You okay?" Sam asked, making him roll his eyes.

"Of course," he told her with a smile.

"Good," she said sweetly and then she pulled her hand from behind her back and threw the snowball that she was hiding at his shoulder. She laughed and ran away when he charged after her in mild aggression.

"You're dead, Riddle," he laughed as he created a snowball and threw it at the back of her retreating head. She let out a bark of laughter as she felt the snow melt and wet her blonde hair. Sam quickly created two snowballs and threw them at George who was trying to create snowballs of his own. They both hit his head making him drop his snowball.

"That's it, Sam!" he laughed and started chasing her making her laugh and run away. Once George caught up with her he tackled her lightly to the ground, making her fall on top of him.

Once they stopped laughing they couldn't help but be silent from the powerful energy rushing between them. She couldn't help but be hypnotized from his hazel eyes that stared widely into her green ones.

"George-" she was about whisper but she was cut off when his lips came in contact with hers.

What was missing from her kiss with Draco definitely occurred in her kiss with George. Fireworks were going off like crazy in her head making her feel light headed. His lips were warm and felt right with hers. When they finally parted they were both breathing louder than usual.

"Sam-" he tried to say but was cut off from a voice in the distance.

"George! Sam!" the heard Fred yell, "I know you're there! C'mon, we have to meet Harry at the Hogs Head!" George looked at Sam with a slight frown at his face after listening to his brother.

"Do we have to?" Sam wined in a whisper making George smile.

"I know what you mean," George mumbled and then kissed the top of her head. The girl pushed herself of him and before they left, they shared a kiss and then started back up the trail.

_October 5, 9:12 PM_

_ Oh my God. :)_

_ Happily,_

_Samantha Riddle_


	12. The Match

"Hey," Sam whispered and smiled at George who stood only two feet from her. She shut the door quietly behind her before she walked over and kissed him on the lips. The two teens were standing in a deserted broom closet on the sixth floor to have the ultimate privacy. This became almost a daily thing for the two ever since their Hogsmeade trip in early October. They decided to become a couple the next day but kept it a secret from their friends since they were worried about the response their friends would have. "It's much sexier this way," George had told her once, sealing the deal for Sam.

Between her boyfriend, friends, DA meetings, homework, and classes, Sam felt stretched in many directions. Somehow, she was able to get everything accomplished except writing to her mom. She was embarrassed to admit it, but she forgot all about Carrie until the other day when she received a frantic letter from her mom saying how much she missed her daughter and what was going on that made her inept to write to her. Feeling embarrassed, Sam wrote back right away.

These thoughts roamed around Sam's mind as George stroked her blonde hair that reached the bottom of her shoulder blades. They didn't just kiss during their sessions in the broom closet. They talked most of the time about things they didn't tell other people. George confessed to her one time that sometimes he wished he wasn't a twin, because of the fact that he wasn't just George Weasley, he was always George and Fred Weasley. Sam once told him about how her mother used to be a drunk, thus Sam's horrible temper and her ability to hide hepainful emotions.

"Are you nervous for the match tomorrow?" Sam asked him, referring to the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match that was occuring the next day.

"A bit," he murmured, "just for Ron, though. He really is a pretty good at Keeper, his nerves just get the better of him." Sam nodded. She was nervous for Ron, too. She watched Gryffindor practice with Hermione and Ginny once and was pleased to see him save the first six shots fired at him, but once he let one in it was all downhill from there.

The two teens chatted some more before departing from the broom closet and walking to the Common Room to start on homework. There, they found Hermione, Ron, and Harry chatting aimlessly while working on their homework. They greeted one another and sat together next to the fire.

"How's your joke shop coming along?" Harry asked George interestedly knowing exactly what Hermione's reaction would be.

"Please don't tell me that you're still experimenting on First Years!" moaned Hermione as she set down her quill so she could glare at George properly.

The Seventh Year smirked at her as he answered Harry pleasantly. "Actually, Harry, it's been going magnificent, thank you for asking. We have a great and extremely large group of testers lined up that are just giddy to help out!" he exaggerated enthusiastically making Hermione scowl murderously and Sam and Ron snigger.

"If you know what's good for you, you would be more careful about your joke business. Umbridge would put a reward out for your head on a platter if she found out," she advised in her infamous know-it-all manner.

"Why, Hermione," a voice said from behind George, "you do care about our business," Fred gushed as he and Lee Jordan walked closer to the five students.

Hermione responded only with a scowl and went back to work making everyone smirk and hold back a chuckle as they returned to work also. George excused himself and went to talk business with Fred and Lee at a table in the corner of the room.

The Quidditch team members were the first to call it quits for the night. They all mumbled sleepily how they needed rest and shuffled off to bed with the First Years following behind only ten minutes later. Around midnight, only Hermione and Samantha remained in the Common Room finishing up the last bit of their homework.

"So, Sam," her bushy-haired friend said after a long moment of silence, "how are you and George coming along these days?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, without blushing the slightest bit. Sam was happy that her days of blushing when she was nervous were over and that she was able to keep a straight face.

"Well it seems that you two have been getting very close in the past month." Hermione eyes pierced into Sam but the blonde was determined not give in.

"Well we have been getting to be pretty good friends," Sam said in a pondering way making Hermione scowl.

"Drop the act, Sam," she said with an unfamiliar smirk playing on her lips, "I saw you to leaving the bloom closet on the sixth floor a couple days ago. Don't play dumb with me." Sam stared at her friend wide-eyed with a mix of shock and terror.

"You're not going to-"

"Of course I'm not going to tell," she smiled to her friend. "I would just like to know why you hid it from everyone."

Samantha took in a deep breath before explaining her thought process to Hermione. "Because, I was afraid of what people would say mostly. George is a Seventh Year, I'm a Fifth Year. It's just..." Sam trailed off, not exactly sure how to finish her thought.

"You were worried what people would think of you?" Hermione guessed and smiled when Sam nodded. "Sam, there are other girls who are dating older boys. Padma Patil is dating a Sixth Year," Hermione informed making Sam feel better about her relationship with George.

"Thanks, Hermione, I'll talk to George about it," she told her friend and then started to pack up her things. "I'm tired," she announced sleepily, "I think I'll finish the last couple sentences on Sunday." Hermione told her that she would be up soon since she wanted to finish her homework. Sam expected this and dragged her legs up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

* * *

A blur of blonde, mane-like hair flew down the third floor corridors of Hogwarts on the day of the big match against Gryffindor and Slytherin. Sam cursed profusely under her breath for being late to her boyfriend's game. It was just as she was walking to the game with Hermione when she realized that she had forgotten her jacket, and freezing her ass off was not something she enjoyed.

Sam looked down at her watch to see that she still had two minutes but she didn't like cutting it close, especially since she was still in the midst of getting used to how large Hogwarts was.

In fifteen seconds she found herself on the main floor. Right when she was about to open the door to the Quidditch pitch, she was grabbed from behind forcing her to a halt.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, Riddle?" a sly voice asked in her ear.

Sam's body suddenly felt ice cold and stuck in place. She prayed silently that the voice didn't belong to who she thought it was.

"Draco," she stated silently and shut her eyes tight. A cold laughter entered her ears making her loose all hope.

There was no mistaking that it was him.

"Miss me?" he asked giving Sam the urge to gag.

"Don't you have some where to be, Draco?" she asked harshly and pulled herself forcefully out of his grip. She stared coldly into his shallow grey eyes, only making him chuckle more.

"Sami... you worry too much," he smirked and stepped closer to her.

"Well if you don't mind," Sam snarled and stepped away from the blonde boy, "I have some where to be." Just as she turned away she heard his mocking voice ring out.

"Off to see your boyfriend's game, are you?" he asked with a delighted twinkle in his eye as he watched Sam whip around in fury.

"Since when did you care who I hang out with, Draco?" she challenged him coldly, trying to be cool about it.

_Shit, she's getting really angry, _Draco realized a bit frantically after seeing the fire lighting up in her eyes.

"Sam," he said slowly, "calm down." It surprised him how effective just saying this was. She un-clenched her jaw and became still as she stared at him with wonder in her eyes. He stepped towards her slowly, not wanting to scare her off. He closed his eyes and thought hard so he could chose his words carefully. "Samantha," he said, with his grey his eyes still closed, "I'm sorry I've ignored you."

There, he said it. He admitted to his own egotistical ways, it was probably the first time in his whole life that he outwardly admitted such a thing to another person. Of course he knew perfectly well that he was cocky and a power-hungry, egotistical, maniac. But Sam was the only person who knew the other side of him that actually had a soul, and he didn't want to push her away.

"Draco, I-"

"No, Sam, I was just... being... overdramatic," he confessed hanging his head a bit. "I shouldn't have been like that."

Sam was the one stepping closer now. Her heart yearned to reach him, to embrace him, to tell him that she forgave him. But, she thought, biting her lip as she did, would it send the wrong message? Would he think that she liked him more than a friend as well? Half wanting to, half hesitant, she stayed in place with her teeth clamped on her lower lip.

"Thanks," she finally was able to muster up and smiled at him a bit pathetically.

Draco took in a deep breath, and before Sam knew it, his lips were only centimeters from hers. She could feel his breath on her face and his hand slipping around her waist.

For a split second their lips touched. She could feel his tongue trying to poke through but she resisted. In that split second, Sam felt a new-found hatred boil up in her as she shoved the blonde boy away.

"I can't _believe _you!" she snarled in ultimate disgust.

"Sam-"

"No, Draco, shut up!" Sam snapped, making him stop at once and stare at her in shock.

They stood there for a couple seconds just staring at each other. Breathing a bit deeply out of adrenalin. Sam looked at her old friend as if for the first time. This was not the Draco she grew up with. She always knew that he was a bit of a jerk, but there was also more to him, but that was before. Now, at Hogwarts, she saw Draco as nothing more than an impossible prat.

"Shouldn't you be going now?" she asked coldly, and with that she stomped away to meet up with Hermione in the stands.

As he watched her walk away, Draco felt something cold in his heart. That cold feeling told him that he had just lost his best friend.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Ginny asked, handing her one of the chocolate frogs she packed with her for the match.

"Got lost," she said with a fake chuckle and looked at her Chocolate Frog card as if she was really interested in it. Sam felt the heat of Hermione's eyes bore into her and she knew that her friend was on to her. Luckily, she wasn't going to pester her about it in public.

In a minute the game started due to Draco's absence. The stands erupted into cheers. Hermione, Ginny, and Sam stomped their feet and whooped loudly for Harry, Ron, George, and Fred who darted up in the air once the whistle blew. Sam's eyes never left her boyfriend who had just knocked a bludger towards the Slytherin chaser who was making their way to the Gryffindor goal posts.

As the game went on, Sam found herself either on the very edge of her seat or jumping wildly up in the air.

_C'mon, Harry... c'mon, Harry!_ She screamed in her mind once she saw him charging his way towards something she was unable to see. Draco was next to him, fighting his way to get a hold of the snitch.

"GO, HARRY!" she screamed downward to Harry.

She and the girls screamed along with the roaring crowd that ringed in her ears. Harry pulled his broom up and closed in on the snitch.

Sam closed her eyes, unable to deal with the amount of pressure that beat vigorously in her veins.

_C'mon, Harry... you got this, Harry...._

"SAM!" Hermione squealed and grasped Sam's shoulders and shook them vigorously.

"Wha-what?" Sam opened her eyes and wildly shook her head so she could focus in on the field.

"WE WON, WE WON!" Ginny yelled behind them and pumped her fist into the air.

"We won..?" Sam asked, still in a daze. "We-we-we WON! OH MY GOSH!" A smile spread across her face as she jumped up and down along with her two friends. She looked at the field and saw Harry picking himself off the ground, it seemed as if he was hit by a bludger in Sam's eyes from the way he glared at the bludger George had just caught and started to wrestle into the box.

That's when she heard it, the yell of someone on the field echoed faintly through the stands. Sam looked down at the field to see Draco pointing and laughing at Harry and Ron. She saw her old friend's lips moving in a malicious sneer.

Sam closed her eyes and prayed that Draco wasn't provoking a fight even though she knew he was. She opened her eyes to see George and Fred look his way and glare angrily at the blonde boy. Angelina was motioning Harry towards the locker rooms and he seemed to be agreeing with what he was saying.

Then, something terrible happened, and in a matter of seconds Draco was being clobbered by George and Harry while Fred was held back by all three of the chasers.

"HARRY, GEORGE, NOO!" Sam shouted to them but she doubted they heard her. Harry took an angry blow to Draco's stomach making him fall flat on his back. The two boys jumped on him, Harry getting another punch in, but this time into Draco's jaw before being thrown off of the boy by a spell sent by Madam Hooch whose yells echoed throughout the pith.

Sam looked over at Hermione and Ginny who were both covering their mouths with their hands in shock. Hermione looked over at Sam with her eyes filled with terror.

"They'll have detention for months," she whimpered making Ginny groan.

"And I was hoping that we'd win the cup again this year," the red head grumbled and kicked the ground, aiming for nothing in particular.

Sam agreed and nodded glumly and then turned her attention again to the field where she saw Draco walking off the pitch with Crabbe and Goyle and turning and laughing at Harry and George every so often.

"I'll meet you guys back at the Common Room," she muttered to the darkly and slinked through the crowd of spectators and made her way off the stands. She watched him depart from his teammates who were already changed and made his way into the locker room. Sam clenched her fists tightly before stomping off into the locker room.

She opened the door and peeked into the large room to find Draco taking of his Quidditch robes. Rage swept over her just at the sight of and she stormed into the room and yelled out in furry.

"What the hell was that all about?" Draco's head snapped upward in surprise and a smirk fell on his face when he saw the anger in her eyes.

"What on Earth are you talking about, Samantha?" he said with his smirk growing larger by the second.

"Shut up, Draco," Sam hissed and walked over to him. "Shut the hell up."

"Testy are we?" he chuckled making her swear and punch the large locker next to her.

"Dammit, Malfoy, why do you have to ruin everything? You know, I used think you were a pretty cool guy back when you weren't such an ASSHOLE," she yelled taking a forceful blow at his ego.

He winced at these words and his smile fell from his face.

He'd seen her angrier than this, but that time her anger wasn't pointed in his direction. Now he felt like scum for making her upset, but that would mean letting down his guard....

_No,_ his mind shouted at the thought of this. He let his guard down to her before, and all she did in return is break his heart.

"Sam," he said, his smile returning to his face, "let's admit why you're really here." She looked over at him with confusion written all over her face.

"What are you talking about, Draco?"

"You obviously want me," he smirked and took a step closer to her, "that's why you're really angry, because you want to be loyal to your friend when at the same time you have feelings for his arch nemesis."

She stared at him shock, not sure whether to laugh or to punch him square in the mouth.

He stepped closer to her and whispered carefully. "It's okay, Sami, I won't tell a soul." In her amazement, he leaned for the second time that day for a kiss only to be slapped across the face by the blonde haired girl who was staring at him in shock.

The teenager stumbled backwards a bit before looking up at the girl as he clutched the cheek that she slapped.

"Draco," she whispered shaking her head slightly, "stop."

He was surprised to find that instead of anger in her eyes, there was sadness. She stared at him with a certain longing. It wasn't a romantic one, it was more of the longing of a long lost friend.

"Sam, I-" he tried to say, knowing perfectly well that what he had done was wrong.

"No, stop," she said and shook her head slightly and looked at the ground. Before speaking again, she took in a deep breath and looked back up at him.

"I'm dating George, Draco."

The words hit him like a pile of bricks. That was definitely the last thing he expected her to say.

He sat down on a bench next to the lockers and held his head in his hands. He didn't recall when Sam left the locker room, all he knew was that, that was the loneliest he had ever felt in his whole life.

* * *

**A/N: Heyoooooooo!**

**Okay, people, last time I updated I got CERO (zero) reviews. **

**Ca'mon, we can do better than that. **

**So I'm begging you to PLEASE update.**

**On the upside I have recently watched V for Vendetta and the Princess Bride. Two GREAT movies that I think you guys should ALL watch. I also watched some of Black Hawk Down and I thought it was perrrty good.**

**That's it fo' now,**

**Hannah. **

**SPORTS STATUS!: Rugby is going GEEERRR-RATE! So is track (I'm a thrower, holla!). Our throwing group ROCKS! We're like a little family b/c we always hang out together and there's no one in particular that we exclude and we don't really have any cliques. It's nice. Personally, I think we're the better groups of our track team b/c it seems like we have the best attitude and work the hardest overall. We may not be the fastest... but we have a lot of character and we'll keep w/ it. :)**


	13. Traumarama!

"Alright, guys," Angelina said on a chilly, November afternoon, "let's start off with some passing," she ordered. "Circle up!"

The Gryffindor Quidditch team steered their brooms in the air to form a circle. Sam suppressed the urge to roll her eyes when Andrew Kirke narrowly missed falling off his broom when he attempted a quick turn.

Tryouts for new beaters and a seeker didn't go as well as Sam hoped. Not because she performed badly, but because of the lack of talent that showed up at the pitch. Luckily, they had Ginny as a seeker who flew fairly decent but not close to the standard Harry left behind.

_Goodbye, Quidditch Cup,_ she though miserably when Andrew dropped the quaffle for the third time. It also didn't help that Angelina wasn't the best at masking her annoyance and scowled at just the sight of Andrew.

After ten minutes they decided to practice with all of the balls out. Sam and Andrew got their bats and Angelina released the bludgers and the snitch.

Everyone set off doing their own thing. Ginny flew about trying to find the snitch. Ron nervously waited in front of the goal posts while the chasers practiced different plays, and Sam tried to get Andrew to improve.

Right after Sam hit a bludger away from Katie Bell she flew over to Andrew, now shaking from anger.

"Andrew," she growled, "aim the bludger _away_ from your teammates." Then she flew away to save Ginny from being hit by the possessed balls.

After a hour-and-a-half of practice they were finally finished. Relieved, Sam changed out of her robes and headed into the Great Hall for dinner alongside Ginny and Ron.

"Hey, Sam," George greeted her and kissed her on the lips. She smiled at him and sat down next to him and greeted Hermione happily.

The whole school knew about her and George on account of Draco's large mouth and bad attitude. When Ron found out, Sam was told by Hermione that he was extremely confused.

_"'What? They like each other?'" _Hermione laughed when she told Sam the story. She also reassured Samantha that everyone either predicted that her and George were going to get together or they already suspected it.

This made Sam crack a small smile as she scooped up a spoonful of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.

"Hey, guys!" a voice greeted them from behind her. They looked around to see Harry walking towards them with a pleasant smile on his face.

That's when it happened. A piercing pain in her forehead screamed in agony making her cringe and grasp that spot and groan.

"What's wrong?" George asked, looking over at his girlfriend with his eyes filled with worry.

Sam looked up at Harry with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was... almost, as if she wanted to attack him.

_That's absurd_, she decided at once, shaking her head as she did. But when she looked up at Harry again the feeling became stronger and stronger. She stood up abruptly, feeling her hands clam up in her nervousness.

"Um," she stammered looking at her friends, "I thing I'm going to head in early tonight, get some studying done..."

"What's wrong?" George asked again, but this time in unison with Hermione and Ginny. She avoided eye contact but could feel the suspicious glances burning into her. Inside her, the feeling was growing and she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to withstand it the longer she stayed in the Great Hall.

"Na-na-nothing," she stammering, the lies starting spilling out of her mouth, "I ha-have studying to get done. I'm really nervous for that test in, um, Potions coming up." Sam decided to steal herself a glance at her friends. She became even more frantic when they stared at her as if she had snakes erupting from her skull like Medusa.

"But, Sam," Hermione said, completely baffled, "you're probably one of the top students in Potions in this school."

_Idiot, _a voice in her brain condemned, _what a terrible lie!_

"Yeah," Ron piped in, "what do you have to worry about?"

She could feel the sweat starting to form under her armpits. Her breathing became heavier as she tried to ignore the seering pain that was growing in her head.

"You can never study too much," she declared with a shaky laugh and then fled the scene before anyone could comment on the matter.

_Okay, Samantha, get a grip on yourself, _she ordered to her uncomprehending mind. _Breathe. In... out... in... out. _

Despite her tries her breathing wouldn't slow and she worried that she would start convulsing.

Her feet felt like cement blocks as she dragged them up the staircase. One more staircase to go and she'd be free from the suspicious eyes of the gossip-y paintings on the wall. That's when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She silently cursed herself for not walking fast enough and turned around to greet George with a plastered smile on her face.

"Hey," she greeted with an overly forced cheerfulness.

"Hey, what was going on back there in the Great Hall?" he asked, his hazel eyes filled with worry and confusion.

She gave him, what she thought to be a smile, but instead turned out to be a pathetic half-grin. Quickly, Sam wiped it from her face before he noticed the sheer fright behind it.

"I just don't feel good right now, George," she told him as sweetly as she could muster up. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Ginny and Ron because of the match coming up and I didn't want to worry them."

"Don't worry, Sami," George comforted, giving her, her favorite lopsided smile while wrapping his arms around her to pull her into a hug, "you're going to do great. Angelina says you're a magnificent Beater. "

"Thanks, George," Samantha sighed and they pulled away from each other. "I think what I need is some sleep, though."

He agreed and gave her a peck on the cheek and wished her well before he headed back down to the Great Hall again.

She smiled almost completely at his retreating figure but the dark feeling she encountered at dinner was still clouding her mind.

"You shouldn't lie to your boyfriend like that, dearie," a woman in a portrait told Sam while she knitted a scarf.

"Go piss up a rope," she muttered under her breath while she sprinted up the stairs.

When she got to the her room in the girls' dormitory she changed into her pajamas and tucked herself under the covers. She closed her eyes and tried to not think about anything in particular until she finally fell asleep.

* * *

_"She's a threat, we have to attack!" a voice exclaimed from the dark. Voldemort came into view, sitting on his giant chair liked he owned the whole world. His snake was next to him, tangled around his chair and resting his head on the arm rest. The evil man scratched her head fondly and looked to be deep in thought._

_"No!" Voldemort hissed and then went back to thinking. He ordered whoever he was talking to go away and then turned to his snake. _

_"She knowssss, Masssster," the snake hissed making Voldemort's thin lips pull into a frown._

_"Then we will capture her, when the time is right," he announced, standing up and walking over to a window on the other side of the room. Then he turned to Nagini, his eyes narrowing down on her._

_"If this is all the information that you've gather then you have failed me!" he told the snake harshly, starting to feeling deeply annoyed. _

_"Well," the snake said, a smile flickering in his bright yellow eyes, "I found ssssomething that I thought might be of interessst." Nagini slithered out of room and returned with something that resembled a book. _

_Voldemort pulled it out of his snake's mouth and smiled when he flipped it open._

_"Perfect."_

* * *

Sam woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air and her heart pounding madly. She was drenched in sweat and prayed to God that what she saw wasn't real.

Quickly she pulled open the drawer of her nightstand and caught her breath at what she saw.

Her diary was missing.

"Are you okay?"

Sam jumped at the sound of Hermione's voice and turned around to see her looking over at her with a quizzical expression.

"Ya-ya-yeah, of course," Sam said with a shaky laugh making her friend's suspicions grow. "Just a bad dream," she explained, which was the truth, Sam reminded herself.

"Why don't you go see Dumbledore if something's bothering you, since you don't feel inclined to tell your _friends_."

Sam tried to protest but Hermione simply laid back down to go back to sleep. The blonde girl thought for a moment before she decided that if it got worse she would talk to the Headmaster. She laid back down and closed her eyes but was annoyed to find that she couldn't go back to sleep. Worry and fear replaced her need for sleep as she wondered what Voldemort was doing at that very second.

_Oh, God, don't let my dreams be true!_ she thought and trembled at what she heard.

_'She's a threat, we have to attack!'_

Suddenly, she was on her feet and out the door before Hermione could comment.

Samantha was cursing the founders of Hogwarts ten minutes into her search for Dumbledore's office.

_Why did you have to make this school so damn confusing? _she wondered as she tried to walk on a staircase that inconveniently moved its ending location. Sam sat down on the stairs and waited until it moved again when she a light came into view from around the corner.

She stood up, preparing herself to attack. In her stupidity she forgot to grab her wand before she ventured out so now all she had were her hands and feet. Her hands balled into fists as the light came closer. Sam wondered whether she should turn and run up the staircase or stay where she was.

Before she could make a decision, Mr. Filch came into view with his pesky cat trotting alongside him. Sam couldn't help but glare at the cat in utter dislike before she faced the grouchy old man.

"Wandering about during bedtime hours," he clucked with an evil smirk, "Professor Umbridge won't be the least bit satisfied when she finds out about this."

"But-"

"I don't think that'll be necessary Argus," a deep calm voice echoed throughout the hall. A second later Albus Dumbledore came into view with a tired look on his face.

"But, Professor-"

"I asked Miss Riddle to visit me and she just happened to get lost being as she's new to this school and seems to be lacking in navigational skills," Dumbledore lied breezily making Filch unsure of whether he was lying or not.

Samantha cracked a small smile at this and followed Professor Dumbledore back to his office, which she was happy to find that she wasn't that far away from.

Once they arrived he asked her to take a seat in front of his desk. She sat down in the wooded chair waited for her chance to speak.

"I hope there is an important reason as to why you're wandering around past hours, Miss Riddle, or I'm going to be quite displeased to find that I lied without a good purpose."

"I had a very disturbing dream tonight, well not just tonight..." then Sam went into detail explaining the dreams that she thought about daily for many weeks.

Dumbledore remained quiet while she talked and for several moments afterwards, taking her words into account.

"Yes, those dreams do seem to be rather troubling," he murmured softly making Sam unsure whether he was talking to her or not.

"What do you think I should do, Professor?" she pried, dying to get some answers.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, Samantha," he said slowly, looking at his aged hands, "but this is not something I can discuss with you but if you have any question I advise you to ask your mother." He looked up, his bright blue eyes pierced her green ones.

She sat back in her chair, dumbfounded. How could the Headmaster of Hogwarts not be able to help?

_This is right up his line of work! _her mind cried in confusion. What was going on that was so big that not even Albus Dumbledore could say.

Against her will, she thanked the professor for his time and left his office even more confused than when she entered it.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry that it takes FOREVER for me to update. I'm lazy. :(  
On the bright side my chickens are finally laying eggs! YAY! Also, I went out driving for the first time on the road and I practically crapped my pants the whole time! Haha. Not really, but it WAS pretty scary, but my mom said I did really good. :)**

**So I hope you like this chapter, I kinda like it, and DON'T WORRY. Sam will find out soon... :) I know that I have been putting it off for a long time. **

**Review, review, review!**

**Hannah**


	14. Theories

"Hey, guys," Hermione said on a snowy Saturday during dinner. Her voice quavered as she called her friends to attention and when they looked up at her she took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I have something to run past you both… it's about Samantha," she told them and then lost what little confidence she had left and looked down at her dinner.

It was only Harry and Ron sitting across from her. Samantha had decided to stay behind after Quidditch practice was over in attempts to whip Andrew into shape before their intense match against Slytherin tomorrow. If they beat Slytherin that meant they were finally tied for first with Ravenclaw and Sam didn't think she could attend Potions on Monday if they lost. However, Ron said that Andrew was a lost cause and Sam was only wasting her time with the boy.

"What?" Ron asked through a mouthful of beef stew. Hermione sighed at this image and then looked around quickly to make sure no one was within ear shot. They were sitting at the very end of the table on the side furthest from the Head Table. She had waited until most of the students had left the table before telling the boys what was on her mind.

"I think… I think Sam's father is V-v-v-voldemort - oh _please_, Ron!"

But Ron wasn't gaping her as if she just turned purple because of her word choice but because of the very idea of what she had suggested.

"What?" Harry sputtered and dropped his fork with a loud _clang._

"There last names are both 'Riddle' and I know I said that it was a common name but it definitely isn't; I checked. And you've both seen how Snape treats her and it took forever for her to be sorted into Gryffindor. It was as if the Sorting Hat was _torn_ between where to put her."

Ron and Harry were very silent after Hermione was done defending her statement.

"I think you're right," Harry whispered and fixed his eyes upon his food although he had no desire to finish it.

"An-an-and last night she was acting very strange," Hermione stuttered and looked around the Great Hall with a sudden uneasiness.

"What happened?" Ron asked, completely hypnotized in the conversation.

"She was moaning a lot in her sleep and she said… she said, 'No… the snake'. Then… then she woke up and was panting madly and looked frantic. I told her to go see Dumbledore but first she tried to go back to sleep and when that didn't work she left our dorm and didn't come back for an hour or so."

"Did she say what her dream was about?" Harry asked.

"No, and this wasn't the first time she's had nightmares either. Ever since September she periodically has been waking up from bad dreams and moaning and talking in her sleep."

"Bloody hell," Ron and Harry whispered and looked at Hermione with horror.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked, his eyes wide with amazement and fear.

"What's wrong?"

A cold sweat came over the three friends when they heard Samantha's voice. Hermione took in a deep breath and put a smile on for the girl.

"Hey, Sam. We just heard that Snape might give out a surprise test on Monday and Ron and Harry are nervous." Hermione shot a quick glare towards the boys for not fixing their nervous expression and how they were shielding their eyes from Sam's gaze.

"Oh great," Samantha moaned and plopped down next to Hermione and started scooping food onto her plate, "one _more_ thing to worry about!"

"I take it that Quidditch practice didn't go so well?" her friend assumed, trying her best to remain calm.

"Ugh, it was terrible! Andrew nearly took off my arm from hitting a bludger in my direction and look what he did to my face!" She turned her head so they could all see the long, purple/blue bruise that began to form along her jaw.

Sam controlled the rest of the dinner conversation and when George sat down to talk with Sam she didn't notice how Harry and Ron dropped their silverware instantly and practically sprinted to the Common Room. Hermione excused herself from the table and chase after them angrily.

_Idiots!_ she thought as she bounded up the stairs. What if Sam noticed? She'd never leave them alone about it until they told her the truth, and Hermione knew that Ron would blab everything under pressure.

She found them in the library where their heads were close together and all she could hear was a low mumbling sound but couldn't make out any words. She sat down next to Ron and they boys broke away from their talking and looked over at their friend.

"We should tell Dumbledore!" Ron whispered anxiously but Hermione shook her head.

"He probably already knows, and he wouldn't tell us anything. Dumbledore would never reveal secret."

"Do you think Sam knows?" Harry pondered outwardly but Hermione denied this as well.

"Doesn't seem like she does. She's probably avoid you as much as possible if she knew."

"Should we tell her?"

"Ronald! Of course not, it's not our place to tell her! We don't even know if this is true or not."

They agreed that they should investigate their hypothesis further before they mention anything to Samantha or Dumbledore about the matter.

During Potions the following Monday, Hermione was trying to make casual conversation about the Sorting Hat.

"I remember when I was sorted," the bushy-haired girl reminisced while looking over at Sam from her cauldron to see if she took the bait.

Luckily, she saw Sam thinking about what she had just mentioned and cried out happily in her mind when her friend answered exactly how she wanted her to.

"May I ask how you ended up in Gryffindor? I would have thought you to be in Ravenclaw seeing how clever you are."

"The Sorting Hat debated over the two, but then thought I was fit for Gryffindor…. Did-ah-the Sorting Hat want to put you in another House? It seemed like you were up there for a while." Hermione gulped nervously and hoped that Sam wouldn't get suspicious. However, Samantha looked a bit puzzled at first at this speculation but then brushed it off and gave her a fairly honest answer.

"It was thinking about putting me in Slytherin but then changed its mind."

"Really? Why would it ever want you to be in Slytherin, I would have pegged you for Ravenclaw if anything. Wasn't that the House your mother was in?" Behind them, Ron and Harry leaned forward excitedly, completely forgetting about the potion they were supposed to be tend to, and listened intently for Sam's answer.

"I think my dad was in Slytherin or something, so it thought that I should maybe go there…. Hermione, do you think you could hand me those Daisy Roots?" In a daze, she reached over for them without and handed the roots over to Sam.

Hermione was so involved in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Pansy Parkinson walk past her with a conspicuous looking smirk placed on her pug-like face. Just as Pansy walked past Sam she pretended to trip over her own feet and pushed Sam against her cauldron harshly. It fell to the floor with a loud 'clang' and the Shrinking Solution it contained spilled onto the floor.

Samantha turned to Pansy with a bloodthirsty look her eyes making the black-haired girl question her actions.

"Do you _want_to end up in Hospital Wing again, Parkinson?" she snarled and gripped her wand tightly. Before she could threaten Pansy with her wand, Professor Snape rushed over from his desk to whisk away the cauldron and the solution back to its previous state and to stand between the two headstrong girls.

"Miss Riddle, it was a mere accident. Miss Parkinson, please apologize for your reckless clumsiness," he reasoned dully and waited for Pansy to mumbled a lousy 'sorry' before he turned around to admonish Neville for his pathetic attempt at the assigned potion.

Sam glared at Pansy as she walked back to her desk quickly and then turned back to her solution, still fuming from what had happened. She stopped in her tracks, however, when she caught the last part of Ron's comment that he was muttering to Harry.

"-just because of her dad…."

_What does that mean?_ she thought anxiously and looked back at the redhead but he didn't seem to notice.

For the rest of the day her friend's words dominated her thoughts causing her to remain unusually quiet. She avoided her friends' questionings and changed the subject when they asked what was wrong.

In the Common Room that evening, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione were studying in the library, Samantha sat in one of the large armchairs in front of the fire while George sat in the one next to her. They both had books laid across their laps but unlike George, Sam couldn't retain any of the information in her Herbology book despite her tries.

_"Just because of her dad."_

The words echoed over and over again in her mind. Finally she couldn't contain herself any longer and looked over at George and tried to control her voice.

"Hey, George," she called. He looked up from his book and smiled at her.

"Yup?"

"Um… have you heard Ron or Harry say anything to you about my, um, father…. Or have you overhead them talking about something like that?" Her attempts at sounding casual were lost and she could see it when her boyfriend's eyes turn serious as he realized the anxious tone she tried to hide in her voice.

"No, nothing. Why, did someone say something to you?" Sam told him about the comment Ron made in Potions and waited nervously for his response.

_He's just going to laugh at me and call me a silly little girl,_ she groaned inwardly and bit her lip anticipating a harsh response.

But it never came, instead he remained silent as he turned Sam's words over in his head and looked at the fire with a distant gaze in his eyes.

"Has anyone ever said anything to you about your dad since you've came to Hogwarts?" he asked, feeling a bit like some sort of detective.

Sam shook her head and sat back in her chair gloomily.

"No, unless you count the Sorting Hat." Sam bit down on her lip harder and tried to ignore George's curious stare. She was unsure of whether or not she should tell the truth about what the Hat said.

_You want to know who your dad is don't you? _her conscience reasoned. _You're never going to find out if you don't tell the truth about what you know._

She drew in a deep breath. Her natural reflex was to ignore this piece of reasonable logic and give the same half-lie she told Hermione earlier that day.

Finally she decided to succumb to her conscience and told George exactly what the Sorting Hat had whispered to her.

"Whoa," he gasped and slumped in his seat. "Have you told anyone else this?"

"Hermione… kind of," she confessed.

"I'll do some digging for you." She thanked him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before announcing that she was retreating to bed. A couple of First Years giggled when they saw this but after a sharp look from the couple they quieted down and went back to what they were doing.

Right when Sam went upstairs, George got to his feet and headed down to the library.

On his way there, he thought of Sam and a happy feeling washed over him putting a small skip in his step.

He really liked Sam and was glad that he met her. His spirits darkened, however, when he thought of the time when he'd graduate from Hogwarts and Sam would still have to go on to her sixth year the fall. He had no idea what they were going to do. He'd never see her unless they were allowed to meet during the holidays or in the summer.

_And we can write,_ George tried to reason but it still didn't make him feel any better about the situation. He was beginning to serious doubt if they could still date after he graduated despite his wishes.

_Don't think like that! _he ordered himself harshly and all of a sudden he found that he was standing outside of the library. He went inside and found Ron, Harry, and Hermione in the far back corner with their heads together.

"Sorry to break up your group therapy session, ladies," he drawled with a smirk on his lips. They pulled apart and turned towards the new arrival with an edginess in their eyes.

"What do you want, George?" Ron sneered. "We're kind of in the middle of something."

"Oh, well excuse me, King of the Slytherins, for disturbing your almighty presence, but I have something important to ask you three." His voice turned from playful to serious in a matter of seconds making the three Fifth Years extremely interested.

"What?" Hermione asked with deep concern.

"Sam was telling me about a comment she heard King Slytherin over here say about her father being the reason why Snape is so nice to her," he explained making Ron's ears turn bright pink and Hermione shoot him a dark look.

George explained everything Samantha had told him and once he finished, they were all wide-eyed and Hermione was muttering to herself fiercely.

"She never told me that part," she mumbled and then turned her attention back to George. "You should sit down."

"Hermione," Harry warned and leaned towards her cautiously, "do you really think this is a good idea?"

"Of course, Harry, she is his girlfriend after all," she reasoned and she turned to George with a sigh.

"Okay, this is really difficult to tell you," she stalled, trying to muster up some courage. "We think… we think Sam's father could be V-v-voldemort - oh stop whimpering like that, Ron!"

George was stunned and he hardly listened to the three of them rattle off their rationale of thinking one after the other in a jumped mess.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, noticing how the boy's face went to a chilling pale color.

"Oh yeah," he reassured them with a shaky laugh, "it's just a lot to take in that's all." He bid them good night in haste and left the library.

_How can this be? _his mind screamed in horror. _How can bright and level-headed Samantha Riddle be related to You-Know-Who?_

As he laid in bed, he found himself nowhere near a sleeping state. After an hour of trying to get to sleep he at last pushed himself out of bed and made his way into the Girls' Dormitory and went into Samantha's room.

"Sam," he whispered and crouched down next to her bed, "I have to tell you something."

"Hmm?" she moaned sleepily and rolled over to face him. George repeated his last statement but her state didn't change much. "Oh, George, can't it wait until morning?"

He sighed and stroked her blonde hair with the back of his hand.

"Sure, Sam. Of course." Samantha scooted herself over in her bed and George climbed in and pulled her in close to his chest prayed to God that she wouldn't have any nightmares.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! I hope you like this chapter, I thought it was about time I moved things along about Sam's dad. There's only going to be a couple more chapters and then I'll start up the sequal which will start up a little while after I left off. **

**I've been terribly busy with school and everything. I just get so much homework from my teachers that it's !**


	15. The Truth

It was Wednesday when Sam finally had enough with all of her friends' sneaking around and whispering. She noticed it on Tuesday when she found them at breakfast the next day. She took in their exchanging of harsh whispers between each other making her walk faster to be able to catch a word of what they were saying. Unfortunately, when she approached, Harry looked up and nudged Hermione with his elbow and started talking in their usual tones and changed the subject quickly.

Her friends' strange actions caused her to be a bit off all day. During Herbology she could hardly handle her Gurdyroot because of her shaking hands and Ron had to finish tending to it for her. Then, in Charms, she accidently blew up her teapot in attempt to have it shatter completely and then put itself together again.

"Are you okay, Miss Riddle?" Professor Flitwick asked cautiously making the whole situation even more humiliating for her.

"Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing to lie down, Sam?" Hermione suggested when she noticed her shallow complexion.

"No, I'm okay, but thank you for caring," she mumbled as they walked down to lunch. On the way, they passed Professor Umbridge who was more than delighted to hear the kids' conversation.

"Not feeling well, Samantha?" her sickly sweet voice chirped brightly. "I do hope that you'll still be able to attend your last detention with me tonight?"

Samantha rolled her eyes before turning around to face the wretched teacher.

"Oh of course not, Professor, I wouldn't _dream_ of missing it." Before she turned around again, Umbridge marched up to the girl with her face growing pinker by the second.

"It would be in poor taste of you to run your mouth off to me and get extra weeks of detention," she warned and then turned away promptly and marched back to her office.

"Not even sewer rats would want to shit on that revolting sweater of hers," Sam sneered making Ron and Harry laugh and Hermione frown with disapproval.

"Samantha, you should really keep your head down around Umbridge. She is _not_ someone you should insult so freely."

"Hermione, I got it under control. Don't worry about it," she reassured and then sat down next to Harry and began to shovel food onto her plate, forgetting about the day's earlier misfortune.

Later on Tuesday, however, she found her friends talking in low voices in the Common Room after she was done studying with Fred, George, and Lee.

"What's going on?" she asked, but only got a handful of lies as an answer.

"Just discussing tomorrow's DA lesson," Harry said shakily.

"Just discussing that nasty essay Snape gave us," Ron said during Wednesday's breakfast. "It's going to be a tough one innit?"

"Wow, look at all the homework they gave us tonight. It's like they think we're as lonely as they are!" George laughed during lunch along with the uneasy laughter of Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

Finally, after the DA meeting, Sam found her friends huddled together in the library once again and this time she was fed up with their secret meetings.

"Alright, you better tell me what's going on or I'm going to scream!" she threatened, forgetting to keep her voice at a whisper.

Harry, Ron, George, and Hermione jumped with sudden fright and scrambled trying to find a cover up.

"We were just… ah…" Harry tried to explain but failed to find a good excuse.

"We were just discussing the… um," Ron chimed in but then trailed off.

"I don't want to hear anymore lies!" Sam hissed and looked down at them with her face going from beige to scarlet in a matter of seconds.

"We have to tell her," Hermione whispered, shaking her head at the very thought.

"Are you sure?" George asked, forgetting entirely of Sam's presence.

"We have to, I doubt her mum will, and she needs to know."

"Will someone_ please_ tell me?" Samantha pleaded impatiently without a care if she sounded immature.

"Sit down, Sam," Harry said gently and turned to Hermione once she obeyed.

"Your father is Voldemort, Sam. I'm sorry that we're the ones who have to tell you."

Sam stared blankly at her friends.

"What? You're joking." Her heart sank when all four of them shook their heads.

"I'm really sorry, Sam," Hermione told her sadly, "but it all fits. His real name is Tom Riddle and he was in Slytherin when he attended Hogwarts, which was during the same time as your mother."

After that, Samantha didn't' hear another word. She fell to the floor unconscious.

"Samantha? Samantha!"

Her eyes opened slowly and then shut when the percing light hit her eyes.

"She's awake! Guys, back up and give her some air," a voice ordered. Sam opened her eyes wider and saw that it was George who was crouching next to her and holding her hand tightly.

"No," she moaned and turned away in agony.

"What's wrong?" they all asked, franticness clear in their voice.

"He-he-he can't be my father," she whimpered and to her horror, felt a hot tear roll down her cheek. Quickly, she wiped it away and pushed herself off the ground and looked at her friends miserably.

"Are you _sure_ you're right about this?" Sam asked and sighed again when Hermione nodded. "Have you talked to Dumbledore about this?"

"We were hoping that you would go an-and talk to him. We didn't think he'd say anything to us."

Sam nodded in agreement but decided not to go to Dumbledore until she was ready to learn more about her-and it killed her to think of this-father. At the particular moment she was dreadfully scatter-brained and was too jumpy to stay still.

She said good-bye to her friends and snuck out of the castle with her broomstick in hand. She walked to the Quidditch pitch and started weaving in and out of the hoops but didn't' dare to let a bludger out for practice. If anyone saw her she wouldn't have been able to put the bludger away and hide in time.

An hour and a half later she was sneaking through the dark corridors. As much as she tried, she couldn't control her heavy breathing and it worsened as the paranoia of getting caught increased.

Then she suddenly fell to the floor and her body began to shake madly. Her eyesight abruptly vanished and a vision of some sort began playing in her mind.

It was dark and from a far distance she could see a single flicker of light.

"Nagini,' a voice hissed and a snake appeared beside her and was slithering away. "Go, my pet," the weak voice ordered and a cold chill went down Sam's spine.

Then the scenery switched to a familiar setting. She looked around and saw tool shed and rows of gardens that were overcome with frost from the chilly weather.

It was quiet… too quiet, then a women's scream erupted from a far too familiar voice.

"Mom?" Sam whimpered and then ran into the house on the left and found her mother lying on the floor with wide eyes staring at the large snake that she knew way to well.

"Nagini," she gasped and then to her mother. "Mom, run!" she yelled but Carrie nor Nagini made any sign that they acknowledged her presence.

_This is just a dream, _she told herself even though she knew it wasn't. _What the hell is going on?_ her mind demanded and looked around frantically for any sign that this was all fake.

_"Bring her to usss, or there will be consssequenccesss," _the snake hissed and slid aggressively closer to her mother.

"Leave us alone!" Carried snarled and backed away slowly with her jaw clenched.

Then, it was as if she was falling backwards with nothing but darkness surrounding her. She hit the ground and let out a loud cry of pain. Then room she landed in was foreign and too dim to make out any of the features except for a man with shabby robes and was balding but the few strands left were a fierce red hair. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that the man was leaning against a door with his wand clenched in his hand.

Carefully, she stepped forward and looked at his robes in attempts to identify the man. Attached to his robes was a gold-colored nametag that had tiny pieces of dirt on it.

_Arthur Weasley: Misuse of Muggle Artifacts_

_That must be Ron and George's dad,_ she assumed. When she turned around she let out a scream and jumped to the side of the small corridor.

Nagini appeared once again. It slithered closer and closer to Arthur from the other side of the room.

She turned to the man frantically and saw that he was starting to doze off.

"Wake up!" she screamed, but nothing happened. "Wake up, Mr. Weasley! Arthur Weasley, wake up!"

Nothing. The snake was now only a mere two yards away. It hissed as if it were excited about coming upon Arthur. The man's eyes opened, suddenly aware that he wasn't alone in the room and then he was scrambling to get to his feet when he saw the giant snake.

Right as he was going to point his wand at the beast it attacked and Sam, once again, fell into the darkness with the sound of Arthur's screams trailing off.

"Samantha!" she heard voices calling and shaking her awake. McGonagall and Ron were standing over her looking deeply concerned.

"Ron!" she cried and sat up rapidly. Sam grabbed his arm and pulled herself up and held onto both of his shoulders.

"Sam, are you okay?" he asked, looking more frightened of her than anything else.

"Ya-ya-your dad,' she stammered, trying to get a hold of her thoughts, "something terrible as happened to him.

* * *

**A/N: We're supposed to get over a foot of snow this weekend. You know what that means... more time to write, finish homework, and read! Oh yes, and who can forget sipping Hot Chocolate while watching Christmas movies? I love Christmastime. :)**

**Review,**

**Hannah**


	16. Snake and Other Terrible Things: Take 2

_"Dear Sam,_

_"Everyone's alright here, they say my dad is recovering well and he'll be home by Christmas. Thanks for your concern and tell the same to Hermione as well. _

_"Anyways, I must strongly advise you to talk to Dumbledore about everything that's going on. And I mean everything, Samantha. I don't know why McGonagall didn't bring you to Dumbledore's office with us that night but it looks like you're going to have to take matters into your own hands. Also, ask your mum about your dad during break also. She'll give you the best answers about your dad. If she's willing to give them, of course. _

_"Everyone sends a 'Merry Christmas' to you and Hermione. Maybe I can spend New Year's at your house? No pressure, though. _

_"Merry Christmas,_

_"George"_

Sam finished reading the letter to Hermione and leaned back in her chair and tugged at her sweater nervously.

They were both sitting in an empty Common Room on Thursday during their free period when Erowl came through the window. Beforehand they were attempting to get their homework done but found themselves preoccupied with their thoughts of Arthur Weasley.

"Well, now we know that he's alright," Sam managed to choke out with a semi-even voice when Hermione failed to respond.

"Samantha," Hermione snapped, "you _need_to tell Dumbledore, George is right. Your dreams are possibly way worse than Harry's and you have a stronger connection to Voldemort than he does."

"Hermione, you don't understand how difficult this is for me!" Sam barked and stood up angrily. "I had a dream - or vision of some sort - about Mr. Weasley being attacked and that came true! Then, I have a dream that Voldemort's freaking snake shows up at my mom's house and threatens her! And who know if that came true, too! You don't understand Hermione," she repeated, "I'm scared!" Hot tears began to form in her eyes and she willed them to go away. "I'm scared!" she whimpered and finally began to cry.

Hermione went around the table and comforted Sam and for once, Sam didn't protest.

The bell rang for the end of the class period which meant History of Magic was next. Sam decided not to go and went up to her dormitory to sleep instead.

"Tell him I'm in the Hospital Wing, he won't know the difference," Samantha told her and then she turned away before Hermione could object.

While she laid down in her bed she thoughts about her alleged dad consumed her mind.

_I wonder how they met,_she thought but then decided she didn't want to think about her and a young Voldemort together. _Tomorrow I can see my mom, and it'll all work out,_ she told herself, attempting to be optimistic. She shut her eyes and tried to go to bed but ended only sleeping for a little over two hours that night.

"Mom!" Sam cried as she ran to her mother with open arms. She didn't care if she looked stupid, she was too happy to see her mom.

It was the next day and the Hogwarts Express had just arrived at platform nine and three quarters. Hermione practically had to hold her back from jumping out of the train before it stopped, she was so excited to see her mom again.

Hermione watched them, ten feet away to give them some space. She smiled to herself as she observed how much Sam and her mother loved each other.

_Sam has been having such a tough time. I hope she'll be able to rest and enjoy her break. I know she missed her mom a lot at Hogwarts._

"Hermione!" Sam called, snapping her friend from her thoughts. Sam gestured her over to where she was standing. She walked over to the mother and daughter and smiled brightly at Carried Riddle.

"Mom," Sam said, motioning to the brunette, "this is Hermione. Hermione, this is my mom, Carrie."

"Hello, Ms. Riddle," she greeted, shaking her hand.

"Oh, call me Carrie," she told her lightly then looked around. "Are your parents here? I'd love to meet them." Hermione turned around and looked around the platform.

"There they are! I'll introduce you." She led the two over to her parents and introduced them happily. They chatted for a couple minutes until Mr. and Mrs. Granger announced that they should be getting home before it gets dark.

_I can't believe she married Voldemort,_ Hermione thought when Carried complimented her on her jacket, _she's so nice. Just like Sam, I guess._

Sam and Carried said goodbye to the Grangers and left the train station right as the sun began to set.

"It was such a nice day outside today," Ms. Riddle commented but shivered as a gust of wind came through. "I just hope it starts warming up."

Sam nodded but remained silent as she was in deep though over the Voldemort situation.

_Should I tell her I know, _she debated obsessively, _or should I wait? _These thoughts consumed her mind throughout the whole train ride home and still stuck with her as she walked through the streets of London with her mom.

"I'm so happy you're home," Carried said, putting an arm around her daughter as they walked.

"Me too, Mom," she smiled and noted mentally that she should wait.

_Why ruin the mood?_ she decided finally and pushed the thought out of her mind as much as she could.

"So, tell me about Hogwarts," Carried demanded while sipping her glass of water. They were sitting at a booth in a local café and waiting for their meal to come.

"What do you want to know?"

"Any boys catch your eye?"

"Mom!" Sam rolled her eyes but her face turned beat red anyways, much to her embarrassment.

"Tell me!"

"Ugh, fine," her daughter agreed and told her about George Weasley. Her and her mom had always told each other everything except for the really large secrets, like their connection with Tom Riddle, for example.

"How old is he?" Carried asked.

"He's a seventh year," she mumbled and quickly slurped some of her pop.

"What!" Carried exclaimed and stared at her daughter incredibly. "Samantha, I will not let you date a seventh year!"

_Yeah, you're one to criticize,_ Sam thought sarcastically and glared at her mother.

"Mom, age is just a number, right?"

"But, but… not when it comes to my daughter!" she protested much to her daughter's annoyance.

"That's not fair, and wasn't Dad older than you?" she counted causing her mother to go quiet. She knew it was wrong to pull the 'Dad' card, but her mother was being unreasonable.

"Yeah, well…" her mother mumbled, "that's a different story."

They talked casually about what Carried had been up to while Sam was away at school and left at around nine o' clock.

Once they aparated into their living room, they talked for a while longer on the two large chairs they always at in. Finally, Carried yawned and declared that she was too tired to carry on their conversation.

"Tomorrow," her mom told her before retreating to her bedroom, "I took the day off so we could spend the whole day together." Sam smiled at this thought and went to bed after saying good night.

The next day she woke up to find her mother missing. She looked around the house to see if she left a note for her but failed to find one.

_Maybe she just forgot. I bet she's out getting some groceries, she's so bad at keeping up on that._Sam turned around and walked into the living room to sit on her large armchair and watch some TV. She knew that hardly any wizards or witches watched TV or owned that for that matter, but her mom bought one so they'd be able to keep up on muggle news better. Sam wasn't complaining, though, she found that it provided a nice time killer when she had nothing to do.

She watched TV for hours until she realized that her mother still wasn't home. Now she started to feel worried.

_It doesn't take this long to get groceries,_she thought and became extremely confused. She pushed herself off the chair and walked into her mother's room to see if her St. Mungo's uniform was in there. _Maybe she had to go to work because there was an emergency. _Her mother worked at St. Mungo's Hospital as the head nurse for the Department of the Extremely Deformed and Almost Incurable.

When she opened the closet doors she frowned when she saw that it was still hanging on the far right side and her shoes were still sitting below it.

_Maybe she's outside and I just didn't know it,_ she thought excitedly and quickly sprinted down the stairs and slipped on her gardening shoes and a jacket and went outdoors. She looked around the front before heading around back to find it completely empty. Sam sighed at this and sat down on the grass in frustration.

Then she heard it. At first she didn't since the noise was so quiet she had to strain her ears to make sure she heard properly. Her heart rate sped up when she heard the laughing sound of a vicious snake hiding behind her.

Samantha closed her eyes felt close to defeated.

_Why?_ she asked mentally. _Why do this have to happen to me?_ Finally, she sucked in a deep breath and turned around slowly only to meet the same pair of yellow eyes that continuously haunted her dreams.

_"Looking for ssssomeone?"_ it cackled in a mocking tone as it slithered around her body in a circle.

Sam found herself surprisingly unafraid, just tired. Tired of being afraid and after pondering this for only a couple seconds, she realized that she was giving up, and for once she was okay with that.

"Just give her back," she pleaded in an exhausted tone. She sat completely still let the snake slither uncomfortably close to her since she was far from caring any longer.

_"We'll be watching…"_ it warned and slithered behind her line of vision. After a couple seconds passed and snake hadn't reappeared, she twisted her torso back to normal to see that it had disappeared. She didn't even bother looking for it, all she did was stand up and walk back into the house with tears streaming down her cheeks. Then, right as she opened the door, the realization of what happened hit her and her voice became weak and she found it hard to walk.

"This can't be happening," she gasped and doubled over to vomit onto the tile. Her head became dizzy and her sight became blurry. "This can't be happening," she repeated and fainted before she could take one step forward.

Samantha woke up five hours later and saw that she was still alone and lying on the entry way floor surrounded by her vomit. Tears began pouring down her cheeks immediately as she remembered everything that had happened that day. Quickly, she pushed herself off of the floor and ran over to Marge, her mother's owl, and scrawled out a letter to Albus Dumbledore that explained what had happened and what she knew without actually saying so. She remembered Hermione's warnings that mail was being intercepted frequently and she didn't want to reveal to the whole world her secret. After writing, she looked at the letter and saw most of the words smudged with her tears making her already frantic, cramped handwriting even harder to read.

"He's a smart man," she decided and gave it Marge to send right away and as quickly as possible. Afterwards, she stared at the retreating owl before collapsing to the ground in hopeless sobs.

* * *

**A/N: I know it's been a while! Unfortunately I wrote out this looooong Author's Note and then I stupidly exited out of the Internet page before saving, so you don't get to hear me rant about the idiot girls on my rugby team. Too bad. ;)  
****Anyways, tonight I LOVED the Pretty Little Liars episode and I can't wait for next week (major Hanna/Caleb action-YEAH!). Are you guys watching it, or is this something that I should just keep to myself from now on?**

**I promise I'll review more, I've just been busy/lazy/had writer's block/eaten by a pack of lions then conveniently spit out right when I had some inspiration/etc.**

**REVIEW!  
Hannah**


	17. Author's Note

**This is just an author's note telling everyone that the sequel to the story is up and is titled, When the Snake Bites. It picks up when Samantha returns to Hogwarts. **

**If you enjoyed this story please read the sequel. I'm going to make that one more fast-paced and put more action in it than the first one. Message me or write a review if you have any ideas for me! :) **

**R&R!**

**Hannah**


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